Farm Holiday Collina Toscana Resort Monsummano Terme

EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL FROM OUR "COLLINA TOSCANA RESORT"
Product description: It has a fruity smell, characteristic of just-pressed olives, intense and persistent, a strong, harmonious taste that has a bitter-sharp after taste.

Its traditions: Extra-virgin olive oil comes from "Leccio", "Frantoio", "Pendolino" and "Moraiolo" olives that are harvested during the months of October and November.
The olives are kept in aerated boxes for 2-3 days.
The technique used to extract the oil is the continuous cycle with no heat.

Food accompaniments: They are excellent for garlic bread, great with legumes and dried salt cod (boiled) as well as in green salads.
It is the pre-eminent Italian condiment.

"FRANTOIO" OLIVES
Agronomic characteristics: It's a self-fertile plant that favours cross-pollination ("American leccino", "Maurino", "Mognolo" and "Pendolino").
It has a very good, constant level of fructification so much so that today, this Tuscan-originating olive can be found in all of Italy.
It is highly sensitive to olive leaf spot and has a low tolerance to climatic adversenesses.
It has a late, graduated ripening.
The oil is of superior quality, refined, savoury and aromatic.

" LARCIANESE" OLIVES
Agronomic characteristics: It originates in Lamporecchios territory, an area in which it is sporadically widespread.
Equal to the "Frantoio", it has a low tolerance to climatic adversenesses.
Self-fertile, it makes use of cross-pollination with the "Morchiaio".
The production is rarely rotated while its fruit ripens late and tends to be gradual.
The oil is considered quite valuable by the farmers.

" LECCINO" OLIVES
Concise product description: It originates between the Florentine and Pistoiese areas and is cultivated in all of the olive-growing areas in Italy.
It is a well-known fact that the "Leccino" has a very low tolerance to climatic adversenesses as well as to some pathologies (scab, olive leaf spot and rot).
It blooms at the end of May, beginning of June and fructification takes place in the low and middle parts of the branch.
Production: It has a good, constant level while it ripens prematurely and uniformly.
Its fruits are used for the extraction of oil as well as to be eaten, black, at the table.

" LECCIONE" OLIVES
Concise product description: It was identified in the eastern part of the province of Pistoia and has spread to this area, but only sporadically.
Despite the homonymy, it has no relation to the cultivar located in the province of Livorno.
Some of its characteristics are similar to those of the "Leccino".
It has a good tolerance to low temperatures and to olive leaf spot.
Production: Generally good, production results.

"MORAIOLO" OLIVES
Concise product description: The use of the "Maraiolo" is tied to its good yield of drupe oil and its particular, productive capacities.
It is very rough and is slow to recover after it has been pruned.
It is highly valued for its resistance to winds and it is very sensible to olive leaf spot.
Production: It has a good, constant level of fructification and it ripens gradually and late.
The oil is of superior quality, refined, savoury and aromatic.

" MORCHIAIO" OLIVES
Concise product description: It was identified in the Florentine hills and in the provinces of Pistoia and Livorno; it has sporadically spread throughout Tuscany.
Often distinguished amongst its various synonyms, the "Morchiaio" olives are very frequently used in the old plantations as pollinators.
It is very sensitive to olive leaf spot and quite tolerant to the cold.
Production: Its production is fairly limited and also rotating.
It has a late, graduated ripening while it produces limited quantities of oil.

"PENDOLINO" OLIVES
Concise product description: It originates in the Florentine area and is cultivated in all of Tuscany and in central Italy.
The plants are valued for their remarkable, ornamental characteristics.
Production: The production is good and constant while its fruits ripen contemporarily and slightly premature.
Its pressing is on average good and the oil is valued for its organoleptic characteristics.

" PIGNOLO" OLIVES
Concise product description: They originate in the northern part of the province of Pistoia.
The plant tolerates the cold, olive leaf spot and scab.
Production: Its plants bloom somewhat prematurely, and although are not constant, are good quality.
Its fruits ripen late and uniformly.
The oil extracted is considered good quality.

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Vini e Distillati
VINO CHIANTI DI MONTALBANO DOCG
Caratteristiche organolettiche:
Limpidezza brillante;
colore rubino vivace tendente al granato con l’invecchiamento;
odore intensamente vinoso anche con profumo di mammola;
sapore asciutto, sapido leggermente tannico che si affina con il tempo al morbido vellutato.
Produzione:
Produzione d’uva max100 q.li/ha;
resa trasformazione uva-vino max 70%.
Base ampelografica:
Sangiovese dal 75 al 90%;
Canaiolo nero dal 5al 10%;
Trebbiano Toscano e Malvasia del Chianti dal 5 al 10%.
Titolo alcolometrico volumico minimo complessivo 11,5
Abbinamento gastronomico:
Carni insaccate crude o cotte, primi piatti con salse rosse, arrosti, bolliti con animali a bassa corte, selvaggina, carni rosse alla griglia.
Temperatura di servizio 16-18° da giovane; 18-20° se riserva.

BIANCO DELLA VALDINIEVOLE D.O.C
Caratteristiche organolettiche:
colore giallo dorato chiaro tendente al paglierino;
odore lievemente vinoso gradevole;
sapore secco, vivace, armonico, talvolta leggermente tendente al frizzante
Produzione:
produzione d’uva max. 130 q.li/ha;
Resa trasformazione uva-vino max 58%.
Base ampelografica:
Trebbiano Toscano non inferiore al 70% delle viti esistenti.
Possono altresì concorrere alla produzione i seguenti vigneti, da soli o congiuntamente:
Malvasia del Chianti, Canaiolo Bianco e Vermentino 25%;
altri vitigni a frutto bianco compresi quelli raccomandati 5%;
Titolo alcolometrico minimo complessivo 11°.
Abbinamento gastronomico:
Antipasti delicati, primi piatti di minestre asciutte con salse delicate, pesce molluschi e crostacei, uova, carne di bassa corte in preparazioni semplici e delicate, ottimo per aperitivo.
Temperatura di servizio 8-10°.

VINSANTO D.O.C. DELLA VALDINIEVOLE (Vino da dessert)
Caratteristiche organolettiche:
colore giallo dal paglierino all’ambrato più o meno fulvo;
odore intenso, etereo, tipico;
sapore armonico, morbido, con retrogusto amarognolo caratteristico.
gradazione alcolica minima complessiva 17° di cui:
per il tipo dolce almeno 12° svolta e un max da svolgere di 5°;
per il tipo semisecco almeno 13° svolta e un max da svolgere di 4°;
per il tipo secco almeno 14° svolta e un max svolgere di 3°.

L’uva, dopo un’accurata cernita, deve essere sottoposta ad appassimento naturale. Le uve destinate alla vinificazione devono raggiungere, con l’appassimento, un contenuto zuccherino non inferiore al 28%.
La resa massima di uva fresca in vino non deve superare il 35%.
L’invecchiamento deve avvenire in caratelli di legno aventi una capacità non superiore ai 2 ettolitri.
L’immissione al consumo può avvenire prima del primo dicembre del terzo anno successivo a quello della produzione delle uve.
Al termine del periodo d’invecchiamento il prodotto deve avere una gradazione alcolica minima di 17°.
L’invecchiamento deve avvenire all’interno della zona di vinificazione.

COLLI DELL’ETRURIA CENTRALE ROSSO
Caratteristiche organolettiche:
colore rubino, brillante vivace di media intensità;
odore vinoso, fruttato, fresco e delicato, sapore di medio corpo, vivace, fresco di beva, passante, armonico brioso.
Base ampelografica:
Sangiovese almeno il 75%;
Canaiolo nero al 10%;
Trebbiano Toscano e Malvasia del Chianti fino al 10%.
Altri vigneti compresi fra quelli raccomandatie autorizzato non altre il 25%( con presenza massima del 10% di ciascuno dei presenti vigneti: Cabernet franc, Cabernet Souvignon e Merlot).
Titolo alcolometrico volumico totale minimo 10,5%;
titolo alcolometrico volumico totale massimo 11,5%.
Abbinamento gastronomico:
salumi cotti e crudi, con melone o con pesce cucinato con pomodoro o aromi.
Con carni bianche (pollame, coniglio, vitella) completate con salse media.
Bene anche con i crostoni di fegato e con patè di selvaggina.

COLLI DELL’ETRURIA CENTRALE ROSATO
Caratteristiche organolettiche:
colore rosato più o meno intenso con assenza di riflessi gialli o ambrati;
odore vinoso, fruttato, fragrante, fresco;
sapore di medio corpo, vivace, fresco di beva, passante, armonico brioso.
Base ampelografica:
Sangiovese almeno il 75%;
Canaiolo nero al 10%;
Trebbiano Toscano e Malvasia del Chianti fino al 10%.
Altri vigneti compresi fra quelli raccomandatie autorizzato non altre il 25%( con presenza massima del 10% di ciascuno dei presenti vigneti: Cabernet franc, Cabernet Souvignon e Merlot).
Titolo alcolometrico volumico totale minimo 10,5%.
Abbinamento gastronomico:
salumi cotti e crudi, esclusi quelli piccanti, quindi si accompagna con prosciutto crudi o culatello;
con melone o con pesce cucinato con pomodoro o aromi.
Con carni bianche (pollame, coniglio, vitella) completate con salse media e leggera struttura.
Bene anche con formaggi a pasta semidura.

COLLI DELL’ETRURIA CENTRALE BIANCO
Caratteristiche organolettiche:
colore bianco paglierino scarico con riflessi verdognoli;
odore fruttato e delicato;
sapore sapido, vivace, fresco, armonico.
Base ampelografica:
Trebbiano Toscano almeno il 50%;
Malvasia del Chianti fino al 5%.
Pinot Bianco o grigio Chardonnay;
Sauvignon: complessivamente dal 10 al 45%.
E’ ammessa la presenza di vigneti complementari e autorizzati fino a un massimo del 15%.
Titolo alcolometrico volumico totale minimo 9,5%.
Abbinamento gastronomico:
Antipasti delicati
primi piatti di minestre asciutte con salse delicate
pesce molluschi e crostacei
uova e carne di bassa corte in preparazioni semplici e delicate
ottimo per aperitivo
Temperatura di servizio 8-10°.

COLLI DELL’ETRURIA CENTRALE VINSANTO
Caratteristiche organolettiche:
colore dal paglierino all’ambrato più o meno intenso;
odore etereo, intenso e delicato;
sapore dal secco all’amabile, armonico.
Base ampelografica:
Trebbiano Toscano almeno il 50%;
Malvasia del Chianti fino al 5%.
Pinot Bianco o grigio Chardonnay Sauvignon: complessivamente dal 10 al 45%.
E’ ammessa la presenza di vigneti complementari e autorizzati fino a un massimo del 15%.
Titolo alcolometrico volumico totale minimo 16%.
Per il tipo secco 14,5% svolto e 1.5% da svolgere.
Per il tipo amabile 13,5% svolto e 3% da svolgere

GRAPPA
Caratteristiche organolettiche:
aspetto cristallino;
profilo aromatico stimolante e persistente;
gusto intenso, equilibrato con sensazione finale leggermente fruttante.
Base ampelografica:
vinacce fermentate di prima spremitura.
Vitigni:
Sangiovese, Canaiolo nero;
trabbiano Toscano,
Malvasia del Chianti.
Distillazione:
continua a vapore diretto e indiretto delle flemme alcoliche con colonne sottovuoto. Affinamento dai 6 ai 12 mesi in serbatoi di acciaio inox.
Alcool 43% Vol.
Temperatura di servizio 9°-12° C.

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Cheese
SHEEP'S RAW MILK CHEESE
Synonyms: "Pecorino di Pistoia" (Sheep's milk cheese from Pistoia)
Product description: It's presented in pieces that range from 800 g. to 1.5 kg.; it's round with a diameter between 18 and 20 cm. and is a pale- yellow colour.
It's salty, beige-coloured and has a soft consistency.
Its traditions: The traditions of this cheese are tied to the unique technique with which it's processed, which have remained the same throughout time and include the use of raw milk, animal or vegetable-originating curds and special maturing conditions.
The sheep-breeding technique used, based on the animals free stabling and grazing, is essential to obtain quality milk.
It is eaten with honey, pears and ham.

"RAVIGGIOLO" SHEEP CHEESE
Synonyms: "Ravaggiolo", "Raveggiolo".
Product description: "Raviggiolo" is cone-shaped and its pieces weigh approximately half a kilo.
It's white, has a sour taste, is soft and smells like milk.
Its traditions: This product owes its uniqueness to the tradition of its processing technique and to the use of local ingredients.

RICOTTA SHEEP CHEESE
Product description: Ricotta from pistoiese sheep is cone-shaped, white and soft. Its pieces weigh from 1 to 1.5 kg.
Its traditions: This product's uniqueness is tied to the use of excellent quality, local milk, thanks to the pastures pedoclimatic conditions.
Ricotta from pistoiese sheep is distinguished for is unique taste that is traditionally eaten with aniseed waffles; another typical, local product.

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Vegetables
CHESTNUTS (FRESH)
Product description: The principal chestnut cultivar, by fresh consumption, are the "Bastardo rosso", the "Carpinese" or "Carrarese", the "Mazzangaia", the "Rossola", the "Selvana" and the "Vitarina".
The fruits from each cultivation are more or less differentiated by shape, dimensions, colour of the skin, shape of the hilum, internal skin and its organoleptic characteristics. Its production is concentrated mainly in the month of October.
Its traditions: Traditional cultivation of the chestnut has taken place over centuries, with few substantial variations with respect to customary cultivation practices.
With respect to the past, these techniques only include the auxiliary help of mechanical means like chain saws and trimmers; they don't include chemical fertilisers or phytosanitary products and they guarantee maintaining the product's specific, organoleptic characteristics when consumed fresh or following their processing.

BEANS FROM SORANA
Synonyms: "Piattellino"
Product description: The bean from Sorana is a leguminous, creeper-type plant belonging to the botanical species "Phaseolus vulgaris L.".
It often surpasses 5 m. in height in the area in which it's cultivated.
Its seed is a milky-white colour with light, pearly veins or a wine-red colour with more intense-coloured stripes.
The white one (locally called "piattellino")has a squashed shape, almost flat and is much smaller than the common haricot; the red one has a more cylindrical shape.
It is very tasty and tender.
Its integument is very thin and it doesn't peel off when cooked; its unique taste makes it a very sought-after bean, although it's difficult to find.
Its traditions: It has been cultivated in the area for at least two centuries.
It's generally eaten as a side dish to typical, Tuscan meals but also as a first course (soups and minestrone).
A request to be recognised as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) has been made.

CHESTNUT FLOUR
Product description: Chestnut flour is light-brown coloured, has a sweet taste and an intense aroma of toasted chestnuts.
Its traditions: The exclusively, local origin of the chestnuts and the traditional drying technique in the "metati" (traditional container for drying chestnuts) give the chestnut flour from Pistoia a unique taste, while its preservation in wooden containers allows for longer keeping of its organoleptic characteristics.
The producers manual ability and acquired experience over time greatly influence the quality of this product.

SOFT FRUIT
Product description: Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries grow naturally in Montalbano.
They are very sweet and have an intense, vanilla-like aroma.
They are soft and particularly juicy and are used to make marmalade, gelatines and to decorate cream-pastries.
Its traditions: Soft fruit from the undergrowth (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries) has unique healing and soothing properties and for this reason is also used for infusions and tisanes.
The blueberry is well-known for its ability to improve visual capacity.

BLUEBERRY
Synonyms: "Piuro"
Product description: The blueberry ("Vaccinium myrtillus") is a small, naturally grown shrub about 30-60 cm. high, that has deciduous leaves with serrated edges.
It produces subspherical, dark-blue berries that are 6-10 mm. in diameter.
The berries are juicy, purplish inside, have a pleasing, sweet taste and are aromatic and refreshing.
Their ripening season depends on the altitudes and their exposure to the sun, however it is sometime between the end of July and September.
Botanist Sandro Pignatti points out the exceptional dimensions that this shrub, its leaves and berries can reach in the Pistoiese Apennines, thanks to climatic-ecological conditions that are particularly favourable.
Its traditions: The blueberry characterises the undergrowth of the forests on the Pistoiese mountain at high elevation and with acid soil; above all, it dominates the wild moorlands and is over woody vegetation.
It has always represented an important resource for the Pistoiese mountain; its abundant production, quality product and the versatility with which it can be used have made it well-known and valued in all of Italy.

CHESTNUT HONEY
Concise product description: Chestnut honey is very liquid, more or less dark-brown and shiny; it has a strong, bitter taste and a persistent, forest-like smell.
Its traditions: This product's quality is due to the unique taste of its pollinic composition, due to the type of bloom and the land off of which the bees are nourished.
Bee families are bred in wooden beehives and the beekeepers, in order to produce the honey, extract the super hives from the beehives and take them to the laboratory where they proceed with the uncapping of the frames and honey extraction by centrifugation.
The honey is then filtered, placed in containers to mature and left to settle for 15 days in order to bring out the impurities and the air bubbles that are then eliminated through skimming.

ROYAL JELLY
Concise product description: Royal jelly is thick and creamy, off-white in colour and completely odourless, while its taste is acidulous.
It is normally packaged in small 10 g. jars; it's perishable and must be kept in the fridge and eaten within 10 days.
Its traditions: Royal jelly is produced during the months of May, June and July in the so-called "royal cells" within the beehives.
The "royal cells" are gathered and transported to the laboratory where the larva are eliminated with a small trowel and the jelly is extracted with a special extractor and then packaged in small, glass jars.
Royal jelly is wholesome, enriched with fortifying nutrients and in the last few years, has undergone a noticeable increase in consumption.
It can be eaten with honey and liquor but can also be eaten plain.

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TUSCAN BREAD
Product description: Tuscan bread has a classic, round shape, a flaky crust, a golden colour and above all, it doesn't have any salt; contrary to the majority of Italian bread.
This product is the ideal accompaniment to typical, Tuscan dishes like "pappa col pomodoro", "ribollita" or "panzanella".
It is extraordinary with extra-virgin olive oil and salt, making for a great garlic bread.
Its traditions: Tuscan bread is known for being bland; that is without salt.
There are two theories that explain the absence of this ingredient:
1) because Tuscan cheeses and salamis are very tasty;
2) because during Medieval times, in the 1300's, a few cadastral books called "Taxae Buccarum" (or taxes from the mouth) existed; with these, the municipality counted how many mouths there were to feed in each family and how much salt each one needed.
Based on this data, the families were provided with salt (quite valuable then).
In addition to the product's price, they had to pay a further tax due to the fact that in Tuscany, except for in Volterra, there were no salinas.
The cost of salt was high and it was necessary to preserve such foods as pork meat, source of protein for nourishment, so it was economised on by not putting it into the bread.
It's important to remember that during Roman times, our city was transformed into a supply centre for the army.
" Pistoia" derives from oven (Pistores in Latin) and baker (Pistores that is, those who knead bread).

"BRIGIDINO" (ANISEED WAFFLES) FROM LAMPORECCHIO
Product description: Aniseed waffles from Lamporecchio are round waffles of about 7 cm. in diameter, as thin as a host and with wavy edges.
They are yellow-orange, very flaky and crunchy and taste of shortcrust pastry and anise.
They are packaged in unique long, narrow, plastic bags that are closed with a string.
The waffles are sometimes also packaged in cardboard boxes.
Its traditions: This traditional and unique product has a specific combination of ingredients, a unique taste and finally, an original production method that is responsible for its traditional appearance.
Traditionally hand-made, it is obviously irregularly shaped.
Its has been made since the Renaissance period.

"NECCIO" (CHESTNUT FLOUR WAFFLES)
Synonym: "Bollento", "gaccio", "cian"
Product description: "Necci" or "bollenti" are big waffles, fairly flat, made with chestnut flour.
They have an approximate diameter of 25 cm., are brown and soft and taste and smell of chestnuts.
They are cooked on steel or refractory stone hot plates called "testi" that are placed on a fire.
" Necci" are traditionally eaten hot with ricotta cheese and rolled into the shape of a cannolo.
Its traditions: The "neccio", whose history goes back for centuries, is unique due to the use of chestnut flour, its special processing procedures that have remained the same throughout time and the use of typical utensils like the chestnut-wood containers for the preservation of the flour, the "testi" and baking trays used for cooking that, together with chestnut leaves, are responsible for this product's unique taste.
Once, "neccio" was eaten instead of chestnut-flour polenta, as well as cold by loggers and charcoal burners.
Today it is enjoyed hot.