Monday morning we will meet for breakfast in Piazza before going shopping together for our first cooking class of the week. The plan today is to make two different kinds of pasta called ‘Ciufetti’. These are little pasta purses, somewhat like ravioli, but much more flavorful, and far more impressive. The first will be pear and gorgonzola stuffed ciufetti with a raddichio and speck sauce, while the second will be stuffed with raddichio and speck in a cream sauce. To say these are sure to be the most incredible pasta dishes you will ever have is an understatement. For our second course, we will go with classic Tuscan-roasted chicken and potatoes. While a simple dish, it is an all-time classic with the most wonderful balance of flavor.

After lunch, we’ll go to the Calcata, the village of artists. While Calcata dates back to the 8th century, it became a bustling cliff-town around the 13th century, but its lack of accessibility caused it to decline to the point of practical desertion by the 20th century. In the 1960’s, however, this town began to attract artists from all over the world. In time, the artist population completely restored the village and it developed into a charming artist colony of sorts with beautiful little shops peppered throughout the village.

For dinner tonight, we will head to Vetralla for Pizza as a local place that specializes in wonderful Neopolitan-style pizza.

One of our most popular daily excursions is our days to the wineries of Southern Tuscany… our day of Brunello. Today is a Modified version of that itinerary that takes us slightly off the beaten path, too.

We’ll start the day with a drive to The Orcia Valley -- known for the best Chianti wines, such as Brunello and Vino Nobile. Our first stop will be in the Tuscan hilltown of Montepulciano, where we will be given a private tour of the 14th century wine cellar that was built underneath the Palace of Cardinal Ricci, and is widely considered to be the most beautiful wine cellar in the world. After the cellar tour, we will participate in a complete tasting of Montepulciano’s fantastic wines, as well as a asting of some local cheeses and salames.

After our tasting, we will drive the Orcia Valley Wine Road, gazing at the breathtaking vistas as we wind through what is arguably the most beautiful part of Tuscany to Montalcino, home of the world-renowned Brunello wines. Here visit the beautiful Croce di Mezzo winery. We'll be hosted by the owners of this small family winery as they give us a full tour of their facilities, followed by a private lunch served by the family.

After lunch and a little relaxation time, we will go to the town of Bagno Vignoni, an off-the-beaten path village in the Orcia Valley Chianti wine region that holds the unique distinction of having a large pool (fed by a hot spring) that makes up its main square (piazza). Dating back to Roman time and though the middle ages, this was an extremely popular spa in ancient times, and makes for an extremely beautiful Tuscan Hilltown today.

Finally, we will proceed to the beautiful town of Pienza, best known for its world-renowned 'Pecorino di Pienza' cheese. We will stroll the beautiful streets of this lovely village as we shop and taste all kinds of pecorino cheese in the factory-direct stores.

We'll have a quick bite to eat just outside of Pienza after this long day before proceeding back to Soriano.

As always, we’ll have breakfast in Piazza. Then we will go somewhere extremely unique and special: Corviano. This is a place that even most of the locals have never seen, let alone tourists. We’ll drive about 5 miles from Soriano along dirt roads into the countryside until the roads get too rough to drive on. From there we will walk about a half hour to a clearing that rests atop a huge cliff. The first thing we will encounter is the remains of a 13th century castle that lay in complete ruin in the middle of a forest. At the edge of the cliff there are a series of stairways carved out of the rocks that form the cliff, each of which takes us down into a 3,000+ year old Etruscan home. Here we will see something few eyes have experienced: The remains of an ancient (Bronze Age) Etruscan village that pre-dates the Roman Empire. As we continue along the path, we will stumble upon what is left of the ancient village cemetery, where the Etruscans carved their graves out of the volcanic rock in the ground.

After Corviano, we’ll go to the majestic Faggeta Forestin the hills above Soriano for a picnic lunch. This beautiful beech forest features sparse towering trees with a canopy that blocks most sunlight, creating a ruly mystical feel. Historically, this is the highest point of an ancient forest that for centuries held back the Roman Empire from conquering the great Etruscan civilization for fear of monsters in the woods. Once the Romans got past this point, their empire building began.

After lunch, we will head back to Soriano and give you a few hours to rest before we head down for our final class. Today we will focus on a local dish that is so unique to Soriano, that it is virtually unknown even in surrounding villages. It is a pasta dish called ‘Gnocchi col Ferro’, which literally translates to ‘Gnocchi by Iron’. It has nothing to do with Gnocchi as you known them. Instead, it is a thick, eggless pasta (made with flour, water and salt) that is hand rolled with a unique iron tool. We’ll serve it with an Arrabiata sauce. Our second course will be ‘Tagliata al Aceto Balsamico’, A balsamic-vinegar marinated grilled steak dish. Finally for dessert, we will prepare White Wine Gelato.

This morning we start our morning with our daily breakfast before doing shopping for our final class. Once shopping is done, we’ll head over to the nearby town of Bagnaia where we will visit the magnificent Villa Lante. This estate was designed in the 16th century for Cardinal Riario, and later inhabited by Cardinal Gambara. The estate, which has been credited as one of the inspirations for Versailles in France, boasts stunning water gardens. After a few intense days, you will truly appreciate the peaceful atmosphere the villa provides.

After our visit to Villa Lante, we will have a Gelato in Bagnaia’s piazza at a well-known artisan-gelato shop that makes some of the best Gelato in the area. We’ll then return to Soriano for a light lunch in a local Trattoria, followed by a few hours for you to rest up or pack.

In the late afternoon, we will meet for the ride down to the villa and our next class.

For class today we will start with fried zucchine flowers (when in season) as an appetizer, then follow with a Raddichio & Proscuitto cream Risotto for the first course. Our secoind course will be Chicken Cacciatore with a side dish of Caponata, followed by Sugar Frappe (a fried pastry) for dessert.

This morning we start our morning with our daily breakfast before doing shopping for our final class. After shopping, we will go down to the villa for class.

Today we will learn how to make Italy's famous after dinner lemon liqueur, delicious and authentic Biscotti, Granita, and Gelato.

Besides the traditional Limoncello, we’ll also make our own family recipe for Crema di Limoncello (Limoncello Cream Liquor).

Our Biscotti today will be a local specialty known as ‘Tozzeti’, which are delicious Hazelnut biscotti, traditionally dipped in wine when eaten.

While our Biscotti are baking, we’ll make a wonderfully unique Dark Chocolate Pepperoncino Gelato and a Balsamic Vinnegar glazed vallia gelato.

Throughout the class, rather than have a full lunch, we will pick on local salame, cheese, and the results of our class.

When today’s class is over, you will take home a ½ liter bottle of each Limoncello we make, plus a bag of our Biscotti to take home when the week is over (as if they will last that long).

After class & lunch, we will visit Civita di Bagnoregio, a nearly deserted town that was originally built by the Etruscans in the 6th century BC. It is called the dying city because it is literally crumbling away thanks to thousands of years of erosion, to the point that it is now accessible only by a foot bridge. Civita resembles a ghost town, but is extremely well kept as a place where time is frozen. While there, we will visit Civita's ancient olive mill that was built by the ancient Etruscans.

Next we will take a short drive to a small family-run winery and olive mill in the village of Castiglione in Teverina. Here, one of the owners will give us a private tour of their wine cellar and olive mill, followed by a tasting of their line of wines and their olive oil.

Finally we will go back to Soriano for the festival and have dinner in yet another of the taverns.

Unfortunately our week comes to a close this morning. For those that are leaving, we will have breakfast in Piazza before an early morning trip to the airport and/or cruise terminal, exchange hugs and say ‘see you soon’ to our new friends. For those departing to other parts of Italy, we will bring you to the train station as needed. If you have later flights out, we will be happy to arrange for a private car (additional fee) to take you to Rome, the airport, ceuise terminal, or trains. For those choosing to continue with week #2, you will have the entire day to relax in Soriano, or to venture out on your own. We will be more than happy to help you with the logistics of this ‘on your own’ day while we take care of seeing people off and welcoming new guests.