Puglia, which takes up most of the heel and toe of Italy, is one of my favourite regions of Italy. I love the food and the independent spirit of the people. It is also a great place for a holiday. The countryside is extremely varied and the history fascinating and though there are plenty of…
Travel
Memories: Lunaio and the Seggiano brand
The small town of Seggiano is tucked away at the foot of Monte Amiata in the Grosetto region of south western Tuscany. It is still quite a wild area somewhat off the Tuscan beaten tourist track. The mountain is volcanic and there are numerous hot pools which the locals say are great for swimming even…
Memories: Rovies and Odysea
My memories this week go back to the very early days of my work with olives and olive oil not very long after I had retrained to switch from wine writing to olive oil in the early 1990s. I had written a paper for the then European Union on assessing and describing extra virgin olive…
Travel: Nyons and Les Baronnies 2
My first post about this region concentrated on Nyons itself. This time I shall be travelling round the Route des Oliviers from Nyons taking in the villages of Mirabel les Baronnies, Mollans sur Ovese, Buis Les Baronnies and Entrechaux. There are 61 villages included in the Nyons Appellation and they all grow the Tanche olive….
Travel: Nyons and Les Baronnies 1
This is the first of a series of posts about some of the olive trails and routes that I have followed during my travels around the olive oil world. It covers the region of Les Baronnies in the Drome, the most northerly department of Provence. The area takes its name from the local hills but…