Legend has it that San Martino became a monk after serving as a Roman soldier.  On a cold rainy day in  November, Martino was traveling on horseback, and came across a half-naked beggar.  Seeing that the poor beggar was shivering from the cold, Martino took pity on him, and cut his own cloak in half, giving one half to the beggar.  As soon as Martino set off again on his journey, the sun came out and the temperature became warm.  From this we get the "Estate di San Martino" – the Summer of San Martino. 

That night, Martino dreamt of Jesus wearing his cloak, and woke up with his own cloak intact.   This sign made him rush off to be baptized and become a Christian.

Besides bringing us this wonderful warm November weather, San Martino has many chores as a patron saint of horseman and horses, of tailors and beggars, of the poor and injured, of barrel makers and drunks, of cured alcoholics, of betrayed husbands – I leave it to the reader to find a thread here. 

And last but not least, San Martino is the patron saint of winemakers, grape pickers and sommeliers, because on the occasion of San Martino’s feast day on Novembre 11, we drink vino novello, the new wine. 

So whenever you taste the season’s new wine, raise your glass in a toast to San Martino.

Read about the Torggellen new wine festival

In Italy’s South Tyrol, autumn means new wine, and new wine means Törggelen.

Derived from the Latin “torculum” (wine press) before becoming rendered as “Torggl” in local dialect, this tradition began in the Valle Isarco of the Dolomites, where winegrowers in the valley would put their livestock under the charge of herdsmen in the mountains during the summer.  In the autumn, when the herdsmen descended into the valley with the livestock, the winegrowers would receive them with a feast of Tyrolean specialties: speck (cured and lightly smoked ham), kaminwurzen (chimney smoked sausages), dumplings, roasted chestnuts, and, most importantly, the year’s new wines. 

Even if you aren’t herding livestock, you can still taste the new wine and feast on local dishes at the buschenschank, farmhouse taverns that serve their own wine and regional dishes during Törggelen.  Some of the traditional dishes served at the farmhouse taverns during Törggelen are dumplings, spinach-stuffed ravioli, sweet buns stuffed with jam, and roasted chestnuts, but each farm has its own specialty.  Besides the new wine, Törggelen is an excuse to taste the farms previous vintages, and learn a few square dance steps.  Typical wines of the South Tyrol include the white Müller Thurgau with a fresh bouquet of apricot jam, the intense cherry red Lagrein, and spicy Pinot Noir, which finds its ideal climate here.

Work up an appetite by arriving at the buschenschank on foot along one of the beautiful walking trails near Bolzano, gateway to the Dolomites.  Walking routes include paths through well-tended vineyards and apple orchards, and through magnificent chestnut woods – South Tyrol’s culture of chestnut tree cultivation dates back to about 600 A.D when a boom in wine production led to increasing need for chestnut wood casks. The Ebnicherhof farmhouse tavern above Bolzano can be reached on foot in 90 minutes along the Chestnut Trail, idyllic in autumn when the countryside is ablaze with color.  If you are too full to walk back, many buschenschank also offer accommodation.

Buschenschank farmhouse taverns are open for Törggelen from September to Christmas all over Italy’s South Tyrol, and the cream of the crop are recognized by the South Tyrol’s Farmer’s Association, which has a recommended list of these farmhouse taverns.  Advanced bookings are normally required.

Read about another Italian festival- the Onion Festival

The gourmet hiker is in for special lunchtime treats in the Dolomites, where top chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants have created dishes using traditional ingredients for eight alpine rifugi or mountain huts .  It’s all part of the “In Vetta con Gusto”- Peaks of Gastronomy – initiative that makes hiking in the dolomites with lunch at a mountain hut a truly sublime experience.

The chef’s dishes, which feature many South Tyrolean food products of the Dolomites, are paired with a local wine, a great way to taste some of Alto Adige’s lesser known wines.

After a magnificent walk through alpine meadows full of wildflowers in the Dolomites, we lunched at the Rifugio Pralongià where I was too hungry to notice the gourmet dish, and opted for an immediate and steaming bowl of barley soup, but sharp-eyed hiker Robert Gardos went for the chef’s dish:  Fresh sheep’s milk cheese wrapped in warm Speck ham with mountain honey, served with an Alto Adige Sauvignon.

Other rifugi that are participating and are convenient for wildflower walks from San Cassiano (and the luxurious hotel Rosa Alpina, a Relais & Chateaux):

Rifugio Bioch:  Chef Norbert Niederkofler of the 2-star Michelin St. Hubertus at the Rosa Alpina, proposes a tortelli pasta stuffed with Speck ham paté and buffalo ricotta cheese on a bed of green beans, paired with an Alto Adige Bianco.

Rifugio I Tablá: Chef Arturo Spicocchi of the 1-star Michelin La Stüa de Michil suggests pork shank in honey and black pepper, with thyme-seasoned polenta and chanterelles accompanied by an Alto Adige Pinot Nero.

For more information about the Peaks of Gastronomy initiative, click here.

To learn more about where I go hiking and walking in the Dolomites, click here.

Nearly 1000 wineries throughout Italy will be open to visitors during the annual Cantine Aperte – Open Wineries -  program on May 30, 2010.   Every region of Italy is represented, and in addition to wine tasting, there are numerous special events including traditional food sampling. 

From the slopes bordering the Italian Alps all the way to Sicily, you’ll find wineries in Italy open for visits and tastings on Sunday May 30, from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm.  Cantine Aperte offers a unique opportunity to see where premium Italian wine is produced and to learn about the wineries from the inside. A million wine aficionados are expected to take part in Cantine Aperte, the biggest annual party for Italian wines, and nearly 5000 wine Italian wine labels will be represented.

Sponsored by the Movimento Turismo del Vino, the Italian wine tourism movement, you can find a list of all participating wineries on their website.  Their headquarters are in the heart of the wine region of Umbria, Italy. They can be reached by phone at (+39) 075 9889529.

The traditional method for making Provola dei Nebrodi, a DOP cheese from Sicily, has been handed down from father to son, and is a laborious process that requires deft strong hands, as well as a dark damp cave.

Made only in the cold months from the evening’s milking, the raw cow’s milk is filtered and kept overnight in a very cool place at a temperature of 40°F (4°C). The next morning, the milk is heated to close to 100° F (37° C), and mixed with rennet until it begins to solidify.  The mixture is then broken up into small pieces with a special wooden wheel, adding hot water as necessary until the curd is in pieces the size of grains of rice.  It is then heated, the whey drained off for ricotta, and the mass placed on a wooden board and covered with a linen sheet. It’s left to ferment in peace for about 24 hours.

The fermented cheese is then sliced and worked with a wooden paddle by 2 people, making sure that all the whey has drained off, and then these same expert hands form the thick curds into the traditional pear shape, tying the ends with a piece of jute. The cheeses are salted, and then left in a salt brine for a day, before being hung in a damp dark place for a minimum of 6 months.  It is the only Sicilian provola that is aged – all others are eaten fresh.

For special occasions, a Provola dei Nebrodi is made with a whole lemon inside, giving a scent of citrus to the cheese.  A sort of dairy variation on an Easter egg with a surprise inside.

Wine pairings:
Mild and sweet when young, Provola dei Nebrodi gains a sharp fruity taste as it ages.  When it is only slightly aged, it goes well with Bianchi dell’Etna, the white wines from Mt. Etna, while the semi-aged provola goes well with a medium-bodied  Nerello Mascalese or Nero d’Avola, both red grapes grown in Sicily.  A sharp aged Provola dei Nebrodi is best paired with a dessert wine such as a Passito di Noto, made from the moscato grape.

On a recent visit to a cheese aging cellar in Sicily, the dampest part of the cellar was reserved for the aging of the Provola dei Nebrodi – here are the cheeses hanging above the brine vats.  I was assured that the greyish film is “good” mold. 

You can visit a dark damp cheese aging cellar with me on a tour in Sicily- not recommended for the squeamish.

Journalist & photographer Anita Draycott participated in our Piedmont Vineyards & Lakes walking tour in October of 2009, and her article has been published in Ensemble Travel Group’s March 2010 issue of Ensemble Vacations Magazine.

Ms. Draycott was particularly enamored with the experience of truffle hunting, a new activity that we added this year to coincide with the truffle fair in Alba.  Everyone on the tour loved the truffle dog, Mara, who was deemed to be simpaticissima even by the cat lovers in the group.  We also got a chance to go to a small up and coming winery, and meet the enthusiastic young proprietor Luca Tosello, and taste his Barbaresco. And of course, there were meals starring the ethereal white truffle.

From the truffle fair in Alba and the wine region of Barbaresco & Barolo known as Le Langhe, our tour then heads up to the Italian Lakes, staying at Lake Orta before finishing at Lake Maggiore.  A good friend of ours on lake Orta invited our group to her mother’s home, where she cooked a feast for us.  Thanks Lilli, for your warm hospitality!  

Read Ms. Draycott’s full article.

The fall grape harvest in Tuscany is a lovely time of year, but never mind that the hillsides are beautiful, cloaked in vines laden with bunches of dark grapes, and the fragrance of fermenting wine permeates the villages. Just watch where you step.

When I lived on a hilltop near Radda in Chianti, there were grapevines covering the slopes below my house, and every year when the grape harvest would begin, the grape pickers would arrive early in the morning and I would awake to the rustling of grape leaves, and rhythmic snipping sounds as bunches of grapes were cut and dropped into a crate.

Every so often the rhythm would be broken by a screech – “Vipera!” Everyone would drop what they were doing and rush to see the viper, which would have already slipped out of sight.  This would happen periodically through the course of the day,  until the cry of “vipera!” echoing across the valley became as common as birdsong.

I began to see that Tuscans were obsessed by vipers. My landlord once burned my carefully tended compost pile, claiming that it attracted vipers. My neighbor would reprimand me if he saw me weeding without heavy gloves, convinced that a viper poised for the kill was lurking in every clump of weeds, or gasped in horror if I walked in sandals through the tall grass. I laughed this off, and they would just shake their heads and utter an ominous “Vedrai” – You’ll see.

I did quiz my neighbors as to the appearance of a viper- so that I might recognize it when my moment arrived- and the stories were always a bit different. It was colore piombo – the color of lead – it was brown, it was colore piombo and brown, it had a pattern on it, but the pattern could differ… and then one fine day, I spied a snake that gave me pause. It was brownish grey, and it had a pattern along its side. Since two of my neighbors were noisily working on the building behind my house, I went to call them, saying I thought I had seen a viper. They seemed thrilled and came in a rush. The snake was still there, partly visible behind a terracotta flower pot. “Una bella vipera”, proclaimed Enrico, and went looking for a weapon. “Ah, si, una bella vipera, bella grossa” Vasco concurs, a nice big viper.

Vasco moves the terracotta vase slightly and the snake runs for cover, but Enrico strikes with a shovel, whacking it several times, until it is cut in half. There is a brief but bloody squirming scene before all is calm. Vasco peers closely at the snake and decides it’s not a viper after all, and tosses both halves of the poor snake into the vineyards.

I decide to brush-up on my viper knowledge so as to avoid any further slaughter of the innocent.

The viper berus, or common adder, has a pronounced zig-zig pattern along its back, it’s mostly brown with a flat triangular head, and a very narrow “tail.” You’ll be happy to know that they are not fast movers, so do not strike quickly when disturbed. The viper is a poisonous snake that is, thankfully, rarely fatal to humans, though it can cause extreme swelling and pain. They really only strike when threatened, and will probably pack up and leave a garden or vineyard if disturbed too often.

Vipers do not like wet grass and damp spots, preferring, as I do, to bask in the sun on a stone wall or along a footpath. They give birth in September and hibernate from about October to March, so any vipers found lurking in the vineyards during the fall grape harvest would tend to be naughty babies or sleepy grown-ups. The most dangerous time for encountering vipers is April and May, when they have come out of hibernation and, like humans, are prone to frolicking on a spring day.

Of course, none of this information keeps me from walking the trails of Chianti, and in 17 years of walking I have encountered only a handful of vipers, and have never been in danger of being bitten. Nor does it keep me from feeling the excitement of the harvest, as I walk up the hill through the Sangiovese vineyards to Volpaia, a small village dedicated to wine making. The smell of fermenting wine permeates village and the streets are stained purple, so the harvest is in full swing.

I stop for a glass of Chianti Classico and pecorino cheese at Paola’s place,  and listen to everyone talking about the harvest and whether or not the wine will be just good or great.   After lunch, I set off back down the cypress-lined drive towards home, remembering to watch where I step.

Details: Volpaia is located on a hilltop across the valley from Radda in Chianti, about 10 km along a winding road. Walks in the area are only partially marked. Our Tuscany Hilltowns walking tour visits the cellars of Castello di Volpaia (by appointment only) during a 3-day stay in Radda in Chianti where we recommend Hotel Palazzo Leopoldo or Relais Fattoria Vignale.

In Volpaia, Paola at the Bar Ucci serves light lunches, or across the street at her sister Carla’s place La Bottega, you can enjoy a full meal.

For more articles about Chianti wine, read the posts on an interesting wine blog, Global Gourmet.

Many people only know Marsala wine as one of the main ingredients in Veal Marsala, and often the Marsala used in this recipe was a ghastly product labeled “cooking wine”, a salty concoction that ought to be outlawed. If a wine is not good to drink, then don’t cook with it!

Delve into the history of Marsala wine and you’ll discover much more than a popular veal dish. This wine is produced in the region surrounding the lovely town of Marsala in western Sicily, and was developed by a welathy British merchant, John Woodhouse  in the late 1700s as a wine that could withstand long sea voyages. Brandy was added to make it seaworthy and resistant to changes in temperature, and it became a big hit with the British, who invested in the local agriculture and joined Woodhouse in opening other Marsala firms.  

In 1832 the first Italian Marsala producer, Vincenzo Florio,  entered the business and built an impressive winery. You can visit Florio’s historic cellars in Marsala – a stopover for many luminaries including Benito Mussolini – and enjoy a tasting of several vintages and types of Marsala. We visit the Cantine Florio on our tours in western Sicily and it is an enjoyable experience, though be forewarned that you can occasionally be engulfed by swarms of small school children on a field trip. They even pack the enoteca wine shop buying souvenir bottles of Marsala to take home to mamma. Oh, to be an 8-year old in Italy!

Today Marsala wine is classified depending upon its color, sweetness, and age, and with versions that are quite sweet all the way to very dry. The driest and most prized Marsala is classified as vergine. At Florio you can learn about interesting food pairings for Marsala wine – which to serve with sharp cheeses, walnuts, and sweet cakes – and yes, how to make a great veal Marsala. While I was in Marsala, I sampled a savory couscous with pistachios that was paired with a glass of semi-sweet Marsala, and found the combination intriguingly delicious.

I brought home a bottle of Florios’ vergine Marsala with the rather amusing name of Terre Arse, a bit of a marketing blunder if the target is the British market, since “arse” is a slang word for “ass”. In this case, Arse in Italian is a feminine plural adjective that modifies the word Terre, and literally means burnt or arid, but I prefer to translate it as sun-baked, imagining the golden Marsala wine grapes ripening under the blazing Sicilian sun.