Casentino valley has been for centuries a closed valley blocked by mountains around. This valley has its own gastronomic tradition, made of plain food, water-mills placed in the course of river Arno and other torrents, where paisants milled chestnuts and cereals for flour.

Traditional cooking was based on porridges and soups, prepared with flour, water and salt, rarely flavoured with some pieces of bacon fat. Each left of pork was used and reused.

In the past it was eaten in many ways. Today chestnut is used to prepare typical food like "pulenda dolce" or "baldino" but in the past is was minched to make bread. In November it is possibile to take part to feasts, such as the one in Talla or the famous Castagnata in Stia, and taste boiled chestnuts and roasted chestnut or "ballotte" aromatized with seeds of fennel.

The common tuber was introduced in the Casentino Valley after the famin of 1817 and now it is used to prepare courses such as "tortello" of potatoes and "tortello" of ricotta two different types of italian pasta, mainly made in the area of Pratovecchio. The matrix of tortello of potatoes is the same of raviolo of Emilia Romagna, but with different names (tortello/raviolo) and different cooking method.

Red potato of Cetica is a protected product (D.O.P.) which is under cultivation from early years of the XIX century. It is used for typical courses such as fryings, "gnocchi" or stews.

Together with well known pecorino and the Aretinian "abbucciato", in Casentino Valley there are very good cheeses made with milk of goat and other milky products such as raviggiolo and ricotta.

Gray pig of Casentino Valley is usually raised in natural state, with a low density of animals for hectar. It is feeded with chestnuts, tubers, acorns and all that is available in nature. Only in winter alimentation is integrated with selected barley and maize, so the pigs improve muscolar tissue and a limited number of toxic porc fats to make meat more compact and savoury.

Black Pinot is our own production. It is an elegant and refined wine for colours and smells. We suggest to taste it to lovers of tradition and to people that want to discover its complexity.