For many people, a vacation in Tuscany is a fascinating combination of nature, culinary, history and health, the most complex province of Italy, composed of low hills, vineyards and many mansions, creating an atmosphere of pleasure and creating an unknown name for its people.
Florence, the capital of Tuscany is one of the world's most spectacular and certainly one of the richest in its historical and cultural treasures and is integrated into almost every holiday recipe in Tuscany.
Our holiday in Tuscany Is based on a Tuscan villa on a bare hill and steeped in green, combined with daily excursions to Florence, San Gimignano, Siena and more
Last April we decided 3 pairs of friends to go to Tuscany for an authentic experience combined with a convenient location for day trips.
We chosed wonderful property that is located in northern Tuscany, very close to Vinci, Leonardo's home town, and offers 3 lovely rooms in one of the most beautiful area of Chianti.
The property has an extension of 90 hectares cultivated with vineyards and the olive trees where excellent wines and extra virgin olive oils are produced.
The guests are able to enjoy the big garden and the wonderful park with the ancient private chapel. Its location in the Northern area of Tuscany makes it the ideal place to discover amazing natural landcapes and art treasures in the Chianti area and to visit Florence, Lucca and Siena...
Interior: Villa Dianella organises wine tasting courses and cooking classes. The three rooms are unique and decorated with taste with an eye to the ancient and elegant Tuscan style and enjoy wonderful views of the garden of the estate.
Lourdes Flores is An American living in Florence for over 10 years, Lourdes continues to explore and discover new places in Tuscany with the eyes of a tourist but with the experience of living in Italy. She wrote about Dianella Winery:
"Dianella Winery, on the road to Vinci, Leonardo’s hometown, has prepared a whole year of activities to honor the life as well as ties that Leonardo had to his home land, the area around Vinci during 2019, which marks the 500th anniversary of his death. Leonardo was an extraordinary figure. Even if he is often recognized as an artist first of all – who doesn’t know the Monalisa? – he was much more beyond that.
From Vinci, his hometown, to Florence, Milan, Rome, Mantua and Amboise in France, his journals contain drawings and notes that show how much he appreciated what went on around him, including the natural world. His notes are extensive on how to take care of vines, particularly after he received a whole vineyard from Duke Ludovico il Moro in Milan in 1498. Since Leonardo’s family had vineyards in Tuscany, it is said that the gift was meant to make Leonardo feel at home in Milan, where he lived for 18 years of his life, while painting the Last Supper in the nearby Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and the equestrian monument dedicated to Francesco Sforza.
Since it was in the center of Milan, the vineyard was considered lost in time but researchers reconstructed where it had to be: they actually found traces of it and of the Malvasia di Candia varietal under layers of soil and bomb fragments in the courtyard of the Casa degli Atellani, a splendid palace in the center of the city. The vineyard was reborn in 2015 in time for the Milan Expo to allow visitors to the city visit the house and gardens and a step back in time. We have found it very interesting that Veronica Passerin d’Entreves, owner of Dianella winery near Vinci, set out to Milan to see if she could bring back a piece of Leonardo’s vineyard to his homeland.
And she was successful! The small cut of vines she was able to get have been growing over the winter and in early May (inauguration on May 2) they will make their trip and be planted at Dianella in a small vineyard dedicated to Leonardo, as part of celebrations of the genius back in his home territory. Leonardo’s ties with the territory are in many ways similar to Dianella’s, from the vines to wines to the kitchen. Leonardo also kept notes on the types of vegetables grown in places he visited, and the tools he created for the Duke Ludovico’s court: from a pepper mill to a garlic chopper to a wind powered grill!.
Thus Dianella has set out to also recreate a special menu that it will teach in its cooking classes and offer in its restaurant to recreate the many delicious and savory dishes of the Duke of Milan’s court, in the same way that Dianella itself values teaching local Tuscan dishes and specialties to its guests. Visitors to Dianella will be able thus to visit the new vineyard with Leonardo’s own vineyard as well as visit Dianella’s winery, enjoy learning how to cook the special Leonardo menus or just enjoy tasting them alongside Dianella’s great wines."
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