Toscana & Chianti News

Charming

For an old-fashioned holiday

Discover some lovely places of yore. This is a lovely, stimulating destination: a stay on the old La Parrina farm, a historical agricultural firm, whose lands extend between the hills of the lower Tuscan Maremma, in the Albinia-Argentario area to be precise.

Established in 1830, according to the wishes of Michele Giuntini, the Florentine banker, La Parrina is now run by Franca Spinola, who has been lovingly adopting a traditional approach that has promoted this area for years.

The original buildings, dating back to the thirteenth century, took on their current appearance in the nineteenth century. With their original furnishings and sans televisions and telephones, lovely apartments and rooms were created in the farmhouse and adjacent buildings. 

Take a relaxing and wholesome walk in the estate's vineyards, paying a visit to the cellars and barriqueria. Or ride amongst the olive groves and orchards, even at night, to enjoy the wonderful moonlit scenery. 

Typical cuisine is served up, linked to the land and traditional Tuscan flavours. Pride of place is given to the top-quality organic products produced on the estate.

Guided wine and cheese tasting sessions can also be organised as well as taking part in cookery lessons held by some top chefs who will teach you to make some typical Mediterranean dishes.

All the products used are grown on the farm.

Numerous types of vegetables are cultivated, from the more usual root vegetables to various kinds of lettuce and pulses. There are also lots of seasonal vegetables, as well as more non-seasonal produce due to the greenhouse crops.

La Parrina also possesses 65 hectares of vineyards, where red and white grapes are grown in a restricted and highly contained area. The traditional grape varieties include Sangiovese for red and rosé wines and Trebbiano, Vermentino and Ansonica for white wines.

The introduction of innovative grape varieties stems from the painstaking research of the wonderful potential of a small area with unique qualities, which is capable of providing top wines.

Staying at La Parrina is like going back in time to a nineteenth-century country home, a return to a harmony between humans and the land. This setting seems to want to protect the authenticity of this historical firm, where the rhythms are dictated, as always, by nature. It's an authentic return to the past.