Agriculture and viticulture Italy

A remarkable cellar, housed in a 400-year-old palace, dug in the tuff and spread over several floors, containing more than a hundred oak barrels. Palazzo Contucci, owned by the homonymous family, which has been producing wine since the mid-seventeenth century, stands in Piazza Grande, the city's highest point. After forty generations, Andrea Contucci continues to produce the noble wine of Montepulciano, characterized by great intensity. The vineyard now covers more than 21 hectares and produces 100,000 bottles. Not to be missed!

If you pass through Airole, don't miss this farm. It spreads while restanques in the valley. It produces a famous wine "ROCCESE", which means Wine wine. The vineyard is a huge preserved natural park. There is also excellent olive oil on site. It is best to call before you want to visit the farm and buy products. You ask Dino.

Not all vineyards are fortunate enough to have such a palace, that of the Squarcialupi (15th century). It is possible to visit it, especially the cellars and the wine library which houses beautiful bottles. The palace also has a shop where you can taste 6 labels from the house and of course buy some of them. This estate, which mainly produces Chianti Classico, has its origins in the Squarcialupi family, historically settled in Castellina in Chianti, before the property was later sold to another family.

Did you know that Italy was Europe's leading rice producer? And did you know that Piedmont, and more specifically the area around the town of Verceil (or Vercelli), was the heart of this production? Just an hour's drive south of Lake Orta, you'll find more than 110,000 hectares of rice paddies (perfect for making risotto), creating beautiful, wet, rural landscapes. We'd like to encourage you to explore this beautiful region... and try a dish of rice!