La Vendemmia (Italian for "the wine harvest")
The Villa Palazzetta wine harvest is a family affair. We arrived at Villa Palazzetta at 10pm on Monday night. It was dark so we couldn't...
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lisajane4
Aug 22, 20233 min read
Summer in Montalcino.. happy like our vines!!
It is often thought that Summer in Italy is too hot to enjoy. A lot of the people tend to prefer to come to Italy during Spring and Fall,...
Ed Riddell
Apr 18, 20231 min read
Another Good Reason To Come To Italy In Spring.
In late winter and spring when you buy oranges you can select blood oranges from Sicily. They are called blood oranges, um, because of...
Ed Riddell
Apr 18, 20232 min read
Our New Bambini
When we arrived at the Villa two days ago, our winemaker, friend, gardener extraordinaire and agronomist, Matteo Turchi, presented us...
Ed Riddell
Mar 23, 20231 min read
Exploring The Back Streets Of Tuscan Hill Towns.
One of our favorite things to do on a spring afternoon is drive the back roads around Montalcino. If we see a little town up on a hill...
Ed Riddell
Apr 29, 20223 min read
A New Cadre Of Young Winemakers Emerges In The Land Of Brunello. Here's One Of Our Three Favorites.
Lorenzo Magnelli is the great grandson of Fiorella Biondi Santi who was Franco Biondi Santi's sister. She had inherited the land from her...
Ed Riddell
Apr 25, 20222 min read
A Most Extraordinary Dining Adventure at Ristorante Piera e Beppe (ps-that's not the real name).
Casa Boscherini At Home Restaurant in the Apennine Mountains high above the upper reaches of the Arno River.
Ed Riddell
Apr 20, 20221 min read
La Santissima Colazione Di Pasquetta In Montisi (and no, that's not really the Pope).
Every Monday the day after Easter there is La Santissima Colazione Di Pasquetta in Montisi, a hill town nearby Montalcino. Loosely...
Ed Riddell
Apr 18, 20222 min read
It's Dawn In Italy (and it's been a long hard night).
Italy is back after two years of Covid lockdowns.
Ed Riddell
Apr 29, 20211 min read
You Can't Believe How Green It Is In Tuscany Now. Here's Why.
One of the many reasons we like coming to Tuscany, and especially the Val D'Orcia and Montalcino in spring, is that the rolling hills...
Ed Riddell
Feb 14, 20212 min read
Look Who Recently Came To (And Made) Dinner At Our Beautiful Villa.
Giada de Laurentiis, Bobby Flay and a big film crew spent a week filming an episode for their new series in September of 2019 (before...
Ed Riddell
Jul 2, 20202 min read
Yes, There Is Life In Italy. And Our Garden Is Living Proof Of That. Thanks To Matteo And Lisa Jane.
Yes, there is life in Italy.
Ed Riddell
Mar 11, 20202 min read
And Recently Voted One of the Ten Best Restaurants in Tuscany? Our neighbors at Locanda Demetra.
Our friends and neighbors at Locanda Demetra started their farm-to-table restaurant a few years back. It used to be easy to show up and...
Ed Riddell
Nov 19, 20192 min read
In Search of the Elusive "Wild" Tortellini in La Grassa, Otherwise Known as Bologna.
If you've never eaten Bolognese tortellini in brodo you simply must add this experience to your culinary bucket list.
Ed Riddell
Apr 23, 20192 min read
A Birth In The Family
We bought Villa Palazzetta because of its incredible location only five minutes walk from the historic city center. We also bought it...
Ed Riddell
Apr 1, 20192 min read
A Note From Our First Official Guests
In March our first official guests visited Villa Palazzetta. The note they left in our guestbook says it all. But Maryellen, one of the...
Ed Riddell
Sep 16, 20181 min read
Pizza Night at Villa Palazzetta
When we restored Villa Palazzetta one of the things that was on the top of our list was a real wood-burning pizza oven. Fortunately our...
Ed Riddell
Feb 6, 20181 min read
Our First Olive Harvest
Last October we had our first olive harvest as the new owners of Villa Palazzetta. The harvest took place in late October. We harvested...
Ed Riddell
Apr 15, 20171 min read
Risotto Milanese
Ever heard of Risotto Milanese? Well, here's the real thing from Milan along with a beautiful plate of ripe cherry tomatoes and burrata....
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