CASCINA GILLI, PIEDMONT

Cascina Gilli is located in Castelnuovo Don Bosco, in the Monferrato, on a spine of hilltops of  white soil completely grown by vineyard.

Gianni Vergano has bottled his first Freisa in 1985 and since then, going trough his patience and passionate effort, worked for the preservation and requalification of grapes that were almost extinguished elsewhere: Freisa, Bonarda Piemonte and Malvasia di Schierano.

Is particularly because of the  Freisa that Cascina Gilli stands as one of Asti´s most influential wineries.  We are so well known for Malvasia Gilli, a dessert sweet wine that is characterized by his intriguing aroma and freshness.  

Our engage and competence in wine production, including an excellent Barbera d´Asti, has been confirmed both by many and loyal costumers and gratifying judgments from the most well-established wine guides, with the result that Cascina Gilli stands as one of Asti´s most prestigious wineries.

The winery, completely surrounded by vineyards, is structured by a modern but well concealed from the outside wine-cellar and by the eighteenth-century Villa that has been just restructured.

In here are located two spacious rooms where we offer our wine tasting to our guests.

The measures took to restore the Villa have fully respected the original configuration in order to lessen its impact on the landscape and the surrounding area.

The farmhouse is always ready to welcome the numerous tourists which want to discover this beautiful spot in the Monferrato that offers at the same time examples of Romanesque art and together sits in the deep untouched nature. 

Near Cascina Gilli you can find Vezzolano Abbey a beautiful treasure of Romanesque Art. 

Accommodations for short time are also possible in the farmhouse, enjoying the magnificent quiet surrounded by vineyards.  

ABOUT ITALY SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL

Italy Sustainable Travel is an agency which acts as a mediator between that which is sustainable and responsible in Italy and the client (tour operator, single travelers, families, food and handcrafted products distributors).

Our objective is to show the world this vision of Italy – unique, invaluable and working to uphold and conserve its cultural and artistic heritage. It’s an Italy made of people who give value and dedication to this heritage.

Tour operator

We are mapping out all that is sustainable and of good quality in Italy. On our website you can find for your clients places to sleep, eat, do activities and shopping (periodically updated).

With one click a map shows you all the destinations of sustainable Italy.

With one click you can see the profiles of the associated businesses.

With one click you can contact them.

Would you like to create a unique and unforgettable trip to offer your clients? A “once in a lifetime” experience? A Grand Tour of Italy? A wedding which becomes an extraordinary experience? A weekend of enriching and incredible surprises?

Italy Sustainable Travel is at your service. We have a very well researched database of all the best places, activities and local guides as well as being experts in creating tailor-made experiences for clients. With us and our partners you can create journeys in the most beautiful and sustainable destinations in Italy - the destinations where art and culture are at the core of people working to preserve their incredible Italian heritage:

Single and family travel

Would you live to visit Italy in the way of the Grand Tour?

To get to know the Italy made of people that you would otherwise never have heard of, where the cultural traditions are still very much alive?

To live an experience which caters to all your five senses? To take a journey which gives you the options of rare and exclusive places to stay, eat, shop and do activities in the places in Italy where sustainability and excellence are a given? Do you want to get to know and come into contact with the people in Italy who are working to protect and conserve their human, artistic and cultural heritage? Would you like to live a unique and unforgettable experience?

Write to us and tell us what you want for your trip - we will construct for you a sustainable and invaluable experience.

Product:

Are you looking for sustainable food and wines and handcrafted products ? Would you like this to arrive to your door? With us you have a vast selection of the best products from small family run businesses who work to maintain the high quality, authenticity and originality of Italian produce, often certified biological. With us it’s possible to order online, or to learn of the places where you can find these products for yourselves. If you are a distributor we are at your service to help in the selection of the best quality sustainable products in Italy. Beyond the online shop, we have an extensive database of producers who are dedicated to making high quality Italian produce in a way that is respectful to nature. Each and every product has a story behind it, the story of Italian excellence.

S´Argidda, Saffran, Sardinia

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S’Agridda is a farm with ancient roots. For generations we have been passing down our passion for the cultivation of our precious earth and obtaining the products that our Sardinian soil offers. 

We cultivate simple products using traditional and biological methods, tending towards quality over quantity. We grow pulses, cereals and grains, but the real treasure is our saffron, a product typical of the region. Our saffron is branded Biological, D.O.P “Saffron of Sardinia,” and is officiated by the Slow Food movement, which are important testaments to its authenticity, origin and quality.

We leave the saffron in its natural form, as stigmas, which are the three red strands found at the centre of the flower. This demonstrates the purity of our saffron, something which cannot be discerned if it is reduced to a powder, as it often is, and mixed with substances of less value. For this reason our saffron has a very high potency: you need just 1 gram to flavour 5kg of rice!

The saffron flowers in November. Each morning we collect the flowers by hand, and in the evenings we carefully remove the stigmas from the flowers to be dried. Obtaining the final product requires a lot of work, and for this reason it is often given the name “red gold.”

Therapeutic properties: it is a powerful antioxidant, warding off the sings of ageing, it stimulates the metabolism, aids digestion and reduces the absorption of cholesterol and triglycerides in food.

OLIVA OIL.. EXTRA VIRGIN!!

     The olive was native to Asia Minor and spread from Iran, Syria and Palestine to the rest of the Mediterranean basin 6,000 years ago. It is among the oldest known cultivated trees in the world, being grown before the written language was invented. It was being grown on Crete by 3,000 BC and may have been the source of the wealth of the Minoan kingdom. The Phoenicians spread the olive to the Mediterranean shores of Africa and Southern Europe. Olives have been found in Egyptian tombs from 2,000 years BC. The olive culture was spread to the early Greeks then Romans. As the Romans extended their domain they brought the olive with them.

Olive oil was used for variety of purposes, including lamp fuel, pharmaceutical ointment and in rituals for anointing royalty, warriors and others. The term "messiah", used in many Mediterranean-based religions, means "the anointed one", perhaps referring to an olive oil-based ritual. Cooking with olive oil may not have been a purpose for the original domestication, but it began at least as long ago as the 5th-4th century BC.

Throughout the various civilizations, the olive tree and olive oil have occupied pivotal positions in the agricultural economy of Mediterranean countries and in their commerce with neighbouring populations. The Minoans of Crete were among the first cultures to achieve prosperity on olive oil, and Crete continues to be an important olive production area to the present day.

There are many different kinds of olive varieties from which oil can be produced, and each brings a unique flavor and quality to the oil. Olive oils described as ‘virgin’ are those that have been obtained from the original fruit without having been synthetically treated. Once the olives have been picked, pressed, and washed, no other process has taken place other than decantation, and centrifugation to extract the oil, and filtration.

Extra virgin is the highest quality and most flavorful olive oil classification. In chemical terms it is described as having a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.8 grams per 100 grams. It must be produced entirely by mechanical means without the use of any solvents, and under temperatures that will not degrade the oil (less than 86°F, 30°C).

The wonderful flavours of olive oil are what set it apart from all other vegetable and seed oils.

Try this amazing product made by a BIO Farm, Agricola Persiani. 

Atri, AbruzzI. ITALY

The Company is located in the outskirts of Atri, in San Martino, behind Gran Sasso’s peaks and facing the Adriatic Sea. The location, the soil and the climate make these hills  particularly suited to grow olive trees. The company reaches today an area of 20 hectares in which there are 6000 ca. olive trees of the main native cultivars.

The Persiani’s Company uses natural Organic fertilizers; no fertilizers or chemical treatments are ever used. Persiani is equipped with a modern oil mill in a continuous cicle.

Close your Eyes and Dream...

http://www.italysustainabletravel.com/#!persiani-bio-oil-of-olive/cok0 

ONCE UPON A TIME...

...there were some beautiful apples that grew in South Tyrol/Sudtirol. The fruit of unspoilt  nature and offspring of tradition,they grew to be naturala and delicious. No one knew about them, because they did not have a name...

Then MARLENE & MELINDA CAME!!!

Success is guaranteed with this simple recipe prepared with natural ingredients from “Cucinare nelle Dolomiti. Le migliori ricette dal cuore delle Alpi” (Helmut Bachmann, Heinrich Gasteiger and Gerhard Wieser, ed. Athesia).

100 g of butter - 3 egg yolks - 1 sachet of vanilla sugar - 150 g of sugar - 3 egg whites - 1 pinch of salt - 150 g of flour - 70 g of finely grated hazelnut - 25 g of ground poppy seeds - 1 sachet of baking powder - 100 g of grated GOLDEN apples - butter to grease the moulds - flour or grated hazelnut

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Using a mixer, beat the softened butter with the egg yolks, the vanilla sugar and 50 g of the sugar. Lightly whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt and 100 g of sugar and beat until it forms soft peaks. Mix the flour, hazelnuts, the freshly ground poppy seeds and the baking powder. Using a wooden spoon incorporate the flour and poppy seed mix, followed by the apple and the whisked egg whites. Grease the moulds (5 cm in diameter) with the softened butter and sprinkle the insides with a little flour or nutmeg. Fill with the mix and cook in the oven at 180°C for 20 minutes.

CHESTNUTS

    The chestnut is a highly estimated and nutritious fruit and is for this reason frequently used in the flavorsome cuisine in north Italy. The chestnuts are also referred to as the “cereal that grows on the tree”. With good reason, as this fruit has been known for its nutritiousness since ancient times. In addition, for a very long period of time it used to be the staple diet of farmers.

Some time ago mountain farmers used to cultivate fruits that in harvest period could simply be collected. One of them was the chestnut which, in the course of time took pride of place in the gastronomy of the Trentino Alto Adige region. There are numerous dishes in the cuisine of the Trentino Alto Adige, prepared on the basis of chestnuts. These plates range from starters to sweets such as chestnut creams, chocolate, “marron glace” (iced chestnuts) to candied fruits, treacle, chestnut beer and liquors. And last but not least, the roasted chestnuts.

The chestnut harvest period goes from the end of August to well into November. In this period, the delicious fruit is frequently celebrated and highlighted in village fairs and other events.

All this amazing products come from the natural territory. This is primarily bacause of the excellent climatic conditions and the richness of the soil, and also because of the care that we take to follow nature's rules, both for organic and integrated cultivation.

Never forget Boletus edulis, better known as Penny bun, or Porcino! Meaning of purity of the Mountains and ground. Boletus edulis, like its name implies, is an edible mushroom. Italian chef and restaurateur Antonio Carluccio has described it as representing "the wild mushroom par excellence", and hails it as the most rewarding of all fungi in the kitchen for its taste and versatility. Considered a choice edible, particularly in France, Germany and Italy, it was widely written about by the Roman writers Pliny the Elder and Martial, although ranked below the esteemed Amanita caesarea.

So, if you decide to see, taste and smell these Masterpieces of Nature what best way to get where they grow up...North of Italy, especially Trentino and South Tirol are the core of them, pure environment colorfully and unique tastes!!

Choose a destination that cares of it, where sustainability is a Must and Nature is untouched!! 

We have found one for you:

http://www.italienoekoreisen.com/#!feldmilla/c1z9i

ALLE GENZIANE, FARM HOLIDAY

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Since I was a young girl, the passion for animals brought me, not without sacrifice, to breed them: pigs, rabbits and boars. It was not enough to provide a permanent income for me and my family.

This situation moved me forward to invest in an old dream of mine:  to became a cook and create an agriturismo in an old alpine hut, in the territory I live.

We renovated the place and we opened our outlet, where we sell our self-made charcuterie.

We rode over a plenty of difficulties. We had to find alternatives ways to have water, electricity and heat.

We have underground tanks to contain the water we need, to supply the absence of a town aqueduct.

Then we bought an Austrian-wood boiler to get the hot water we need to stroke the radiators in our guest rooms and we also built a little fireplace in the dining room.

Thanks to the national electric utility company, that connected us to the electrical grid of the near village we have now access at electric current.

My son prepares delicious charcuterie with meat of our pork and boars. My daughter helps me in the kitchen and is also responsible of greetings our guests, that decide to taste our dishes and want to relax and rest in this beautiful place.

What I wish for me and my family is to see in the future our activity grow up, in respect of the values that distinguish me: coherence, sincerity and honesty.

ITALY SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL - BE INVOLVED

Sometime is hard to understand what we are looking for.
Sometime we go direct to our objective, sometime we still in the middle waiting for something that could arrive.

But what is sure is that our brain work, maybe without having idea that is working, but I assure you, the brain is working!!!

Today we would like give you the chance to be involved in this Blog, in our Project.

Be involved in our project, send us picture on what you loved of Italy, and give us the chance to understand what makes you love our Country more than we love...

Thank you...

ECOVILLAGGIO LA NUOVA TERRA, FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA

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High-quality solutions from our love for Nature and Life.

The deterioration of the environment influences global health as well as people´s life quality.

 Love of life was the impulse that pushed about 30 people to join and create a new reality, where the common good is the protection and respect of nature and human being.  As a member of the Ecovillaggio, everyone contributes, with different skills, actively to show how possible is a sustainable future and a health society.

Ecovillaggio "La Nuova Terra" proposes itself as an enterprise focused on the environment safeguard  pollution free environment, organic agriculture, environmental rehabilitation, green building) as well with research as with development of sustainable operations.

 Trough the research and realisation of new equipment and prototypes they bring efficient and low-cost solutions to issues as dryness, environment pollution not just offering conferences but also with courses and publications.

On the ancient riverbank of Tagliameno River proliferates the Ecovillaggio, which is only 30 km from the sea and 100 km from Venice away.

  It is built according to the principles of green constructions, using materials as wood, recycled sheep wool and straw. Fields and greenhouses are altogether 12 hectare large, cultivated with biological- homeodynamic method.

School children and groups are here welcomed to catch the harmonic lifestyle suited on the values of human being and Life as well as to discover sustainable, simple- achievement alternatives. 

STELLA OROBICA, LOMBARDY

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This mountain farm that is also an agritourism, brings the values and traditions of the hearth and the manual works. Young and dynamic, it heads an ancient and poor craft that belongs to the circle of life. 

We are set in Valtellina, where we as family are living and educating ourselves in respect of the principle of sharing and sustainability. We are glad to help travellers to rediscover an attitude for life that brings tastes, scents that in our society are vanishing. Every member of our family is the secret of our business.

Flavio is the one who is responsible for all that involves practical activities; Elisabeth, who is from Swiss origin, is the soul of the house.

Their two sons are working in different fields: Giuliano is the brain that has implemented numerous projects and Luca is the master of cheese, expertise that he has learned as self-taught with extraordinary results.

From our beloved vegetables garden, that is grown by experienced hands, we are able to provide most of the vegetables we are cooking at the agriturism. But when the production goes beyond our expectations, we do as grandma taught us: we turn all into conserves and purees and we do the same both for fruits and wild fruits. Meat is, of course, handled with the same care.

Since a couple of years, we are planting corn to get flour and soon we will also have wheat to produce bread and polenta. 

In cooperation with others tiny enterprises, we care about both vegetables garden and little fruits to get extraordinary final products: organic and high quality.

Every day we try to preserve and to improve the environment the area and the biodiversity that surrounds us.

TERME STUFE DI NERONE, CAMPANIA

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Thermal spas can be dated back to Baia in the 2nd Century B.C. Le Terme Stufe di Nerone, originally known as the Terme Silvane, help us re-discover the importance in taking care of ourselves, of curing ourselves, inspired by the concept of otium that was so dear to the Romans.

Our springs of salt-bromide-idiodine alkaline and earthy thermal waters, which can be up to 80°C in temperature, are rich in precious elements which help the body to remain toned and supple, as well as being an excellent treatment for rheumatism  arthritis and for rehabilitation in general. 

Immerging your body in the thermal waters provides a feeling of total renewal - this is due to the remineralization of skin tissue and the removal of impurities combined with the intensive sweating from the natural heat of the waters.

The large spa park with its many natural springs is a beautiful place for a day of relaxation. Pass from a sauna to a hydromassage in the thermal baths, a therapeutic Kniepp walk to a delicious organic aperitif, a swim under the stars to an aubergine parmigiana. 

Le Terme Stufe di Nerone is a family run establishment, in existence since the 1970's. We have always conducted scientific research, making structural improvements to our facilities, acquiring the European certificates ISO9001 and ISO14001, and sought to work in ways that our environmentally friendly. 

We put particular emphasis on using materials that reduce our impact on the land for the construction works and cleaning products, and we offer to our guests food that is organic and seasonal.

Once you enter you will have access to the entire spa - the pools, the tanks, the saunas, the thermal showers, the fields, the terraces, at any time of day or night. You may also have massages, beauty treatments and vaginal health treatments. Our greatest satisfaction is the well-being of our guests.

SIMPLY ITALY

TORRE CAMIGLIATI, CALABRIA

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Situated in the heart of the Sila Grande, 30 km from Cosenza and 1.200 metres of height above the sea level, the Torre Camigliati represents a typical example of the Calabrian (in particular Silane) baronial residences. The residence, a real monument of national interest since the XVIII century, is surrounded by 60 hectares of a natural and private park, with wonderful secular threes, streams and multicolour meadows which will let you having an ideal stay.

The Torre, a majestic three-storey building, has been inhabited by the Barracco Barons until the beginning of the last century. After this period and because of the agrarian reform in the 1950 which decreed the end of the latifundium, the Tower was completely doomed to abandonment and decadence.

Since 2001 and thanks to the careful restoration and the recover of furnishings of elegant simplicity, typical for the baronial Calabrian houses, the Torre Camigliati has been transformed in the center for the Old Calabria Park, the Norman Douglas and The travellers of the Grand Tour by living, then, a new life as a cultural center for the development and promotion of the region. Indeed the center with its activities is a project aimed at promoting awareness and knowledge about the inland areas, with the purpose of valorising the cultural and environmental heritage and discovering customs, habits and traditions.

The Torre Camigliati is opened during the entire year and it is composed by a charming guestrooms, spacious living rooms and the breakfast room which serves the 12 rooms (each one with its private bathroom), 6 doubles, 2 suites (each one composed by 1 double, 1 twin and one shared bathroom), and other 2 double rooms characterized by the simple and elegant style of the Torre, with antique decors for letting you revive the same ancient atmosphere of the nineteenth-century patrician house.
The Torre Camigliati includes, in the adjacent cottages, 7 small apartments with 1 or 2 bedrooms, one bathroom, one living room with kitchen and fireplace, TV and WI-FI service. The residence has the Picnic area and an equipped stables able to house up to five horses. We organize visits in the most artistic points of interest of the area as well as excursions in the most beautiful and naturalistic riches of the surrounding territory.

ECOLOGICO TOURS, UMBRIA

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Walking into the nature without haste and by following the own rhythm, admiring breathtaking views, climbing sinuous hills and breathing fresh air, discovering lush forests and flourishing valleys or walking alongside lively streams and observing them ending in deep blue lakes. 

This is the philosophy of Ecological Tours that since 2000 organizes short trips in bicycle and excursions on greenways among beautiful landscapes which will lead you discovering historic and eternal sites and other natural and artistic beauties in Umbria, Toscana and within the whole Italian and European territory. 

The safety level of our tours is checked and verified every year by our collaborators and competent guides licensed by the Region. Each tour (as, for instance, the bike short trips and the hiking’s activities) could be organized as a group tour or an individual one - each one assisted by the telephonic or the frontal assistance of our collaborators, and with the possibility of choosing between different difficulty levels.

Ecological Tours is a travel agency that aims to protect the surrounding territory and to encourage a responsible tourism. Our agency supports the non-profit association Trees For All and in particular its project in the Philippines for the restocking of woods and the consequent reduction of the Earth pollution’s level and the no-profit organization World Bicycle Relief which works in poor and disadvantage country with the purpose of distributing bikes and transforming them in sources of life and progress. 

In 2011, Ecological Tours won the Premio Turismo Cultura awarded by the Unesco, a price assigned to travel operators and agencies that organize and promote trips in destinations recognized by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. 

Indeed, besides to the naturalistic trips and excursions, Ecoligical Tour offers tours and visits in historical villages and cities that own artistic architectural heritage of rare value, where it is still possible to listen and to have conversations with the locals in order to learn about histories and traditions, or simply to take a break for tasting typical delicacies and wines made by local producers, authentic “sources” of the true gastronomic taste! 

In addition, we promote events with the aim of creating synergy between people and territory as we are convinced that what is surrounding us today is our present but yet the future for the next generations and preserving it and taking care of it, it really means living in a better world.