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Olive Oil: Tree to Table in Tuscany

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​   Click on topics below for more information
​2022: November 10–15
​
Availability 2022: Nov 6 places

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Course led by Elisabetta Sebastio, professional olive oil judge

You’ve tasted olive oil and cooked with olive oil, but what do you really know about the juice of the olive? In the heart of Tuscany, professional olive oil judge Elisabetta Sebastio leads you from olive grove to mill to extra-virgin oil in the bottle. She and a starry cast of colleagues cover olive cultivars, their cultivation and chemical properties of olive oil. You learn how to taste and judge oil; how to detect defects and what causes them, the role of olive oil in the Mediterranean diet, how to use it in the kitchen and at the table. During the course you will taste 25 different oils from various regions of Italy. You'll make gelato and chocolate with olive oil and prepare truffles with it. In five days, you’ll master the basic knowledge to become an expert. All it takes is to continue practising.

Course suitable for olive growers, oil producers, vendors, chefs, nutritionists and food lovers. Maximum course size: 6 people.

​Click on topics below for more information
​

To request a booking form email info@sapori-e-saperi.com
 
Course at a glance

Thursday
Arrival Pisa Airport or train station
Transfer to Agriturismo Rozzalupi, Cerreto Guidi

Lunch

Session 1: Introduction to the course
History of the olive and the symbiosis between man and olive
Sensorial analysis

Tasting 1: Free tasting (not guided)

Visit to local olive mill

Welcome dinner with seasonal produce paired with various oils


Friday
Transfer to Larciano Castello

Session 2: The tree
Tasting 2: Guided tasting

Lunch

Session 3: Visit to an olive tree nursery for propagation and cultivars
​Session 4: The olive fruit and its influence on characteristics of oil
Tasting 3: Guided tasting
Session 5: Other uses of the olive fruit
Session 6: Cooking lesson with oil and dinner

Saturday
Session 7: The oil and how it's extracted
Tasting 4: Guided tasting
Session 8: Visits to several olive mills

Lunch at La BotteGaia, Pistoia

Session 9: Chemical characteristics of olive oil, Mediterranean diet and non-alimentary uses of olive oil (presented by chemist and oil judge Luciano Gori)
Tasting 5: Guided tasting

Dinner

Sunday
Session 10: International classification of oils, labelling and storage
Tasting 6: Guided tasting
Session 11: Frauds and adulterations

Lunch

Session 12: Visit olive grove of Mignolo olive
Tasting 7: Guided tasting at home of truffle hunter
Session 13: Sensorial analysis of truffles and how to cook them (or not)

Truffle dinner

Monday
Session 14: Gelato lesson with olive oil

Lunch: Cremeria Opera

Session 15: Chocolate lesson with olive oil
Tasting 8: Guided tasting
Session 16: Review, evaluation & presentation of certificates

Farewell dinner at Rozzalupi

Tuesday
Departure

​For more details, please click Course tab above

​
To request a booking form email info@sapori-e-saperi.com
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Thursday

Arrive Pisa airport or train station
One pick-up only no later than 12.00

Transfer to accommodation at Fattoria Rozzalupi, Cerreto Guidi (45 mins)

Lunch at Rozzalupi

Session 1:  Introduction to the course
  • History of the olive and the symbiosis between man and olive
  • Sensorial analysis: discipline of evaluating the characteristics of a product
  • Using the senses of smell and taste as instruments to check quality
  • Positive and negative organoleptic characteristics of extra virgin olive oil
  • Methodology of professional tasting

Tasting 1: Free tasting (unguided)

Quick visit to Frantoio Ancillotti, Cerreto Guidi

Dinner with seasonal produce paired with various oils

Accommodation: Fattoria Rozzalupi, Cerreto Guidi | Meals: Lunch, Dinner

​
Friday

Breakfast and transfer to home of Elisabetta Sebastio, Larciano Castello

Session 2: The olive tree
  • Characteristics
  • Annual cycle of the olive tree
  • Types of cultivation

Tasting 2: Guided tasting

​Transfer to Pescia


Lunch

Session 3: 
Visit to an olive tree nursery (presented by botanist)
  • Propagation and growth of the olive tree
  • Characteristics of various cultivars
  • Preserving biodiversity

Session 4: The olive fruit
  • Distinctive features and yield of olives
  • Influence of the quality of the fruit on the characteristics of the oil
  • Principal defects of oil due to quality of the fruit

Transfer to Larciano Castello
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Tasting 3: Guided tasting

Session 5: Other uses of the olive fruit

Session 6: Cooking lesson with oil and dinner

Transfer to Rozzalupi

Accommodation: Fattoria Rozzalupi, Cerreto Guidi | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner


Saturday

Breakfast

Session 7: The oil and how it's extracted

Tasting 4: Guided tasting

Session 8: Visits to olive mills
  • Modern frantoio, Vinci
  • Traditional frantoio, Monsummano

Lunch at BotteGaia, Pistoia

Session 9: Chemical characteristics of olive oil (presented by chemist and professional oil taster Luciano Gori)
  • Vegetable oils and animal fats compared in the Mediterranean diet
  • Non-alimentary uses of olive oil

Tasting 5: Guided tasting

Dinner at Rozzalupi

Accommodation: Fattoria Rozzalupi, Cerreto Guidi | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner


Sunday

Breakfast

Session 10: International classification of oils, labelling and storage
  • Classification of oils according to international regulations
  • Labelling of quality olive oil
  • Conditions and duration of storage

Tasting 6: Guided tasting

Session 11: Frauds and adulterations

Lunch at Rozzalupi

Transfer to San Miniato

Session 12: Visit olive grove of Mignolo olive

Tasting 7: Guided oil tasting at home of truffle hunter

Session 13: Sensorial analysis of truffles and how to cook them (or not)

Truffle dinner

Accommodation: Fattoria Rozzalupi, Cerreto Guidi | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner


Monday

Breakfast

Transfer to Lucca

Session 14: Olive oil gelato class with master gelatiere Mirko Tognetti at Cremeria Opera (in top 50 gelaterias in all Italy)

Lunch: Cremeria Opera

Transfer to Massa e Cozzile (Montecatini Terme)

Session 15: Chocolate and olive oil workshop with master chocolatier Fabio Moschini of Cioccolato & Company

Tasting 8: Guided tasting

Session 16: Review of course, course evaluation and presentation of certificates

Farewell dinner at Rozzalupi

Fattoria Rozzalupi, Cerreto Guidi | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner


Tuesday

Breakfast and departure from Rozzalupi

​Transfer to Pisa airport or train station
There will be one transfer no earlier than 8.30 am. Please don’t book trains that leave Pisa before 10.00 or flights that leave before 11.30. If you need to leave earlier, I can arrange a special transfer at your own expense.

To request a booking form email info@sapori-e-saperi.com
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Course Leader

​
Elisabetta Sebastio

Elisabetta has a refined palate capable of discerning scents and flavours most people can't detect. Although she utilises it professionally to judge extra-virgin olive oil, she has broad experience and a lively interest in all types of food. She sits on panels which decide annually whether an oil is worthy of the coveted DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) granted by the European Union. She also serves as a judge for publishers of olive oil guides, and teaches the appreciation and sensorial analysis of olive oil. She produces oil for private consumption from her own olive trees, giving her practical knowledge of all phases of oliviculture including building dry-stone walls.
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Course Instructors

 
Pietro Brachini

Società Pesciatina di Orticoltura and olive oil judge
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Luciano Gori
​

Luciano Gori graduated in chemistry and for many years taught food chemistry and chemical plant installation at scuole superiori (sixth form / junior college). He is on the national register of expert olive oil tasters. Given that traditional Tuscan cuisine couldn't exist without olive oil, it's no surprise that he has always nurtured a passion for its characteristic dishes and the knowledge of ancient ingredients handed down through the generations. To help rescue them from oblivion he makes for himself (and for a few select appreciative friends) several products with 'forgotten' fruits from the Tuscan peasant tradition, which are no longer available in the marketplace, such as the wild apple, Volpine pear, Cascolina plum, quince, wild persimmon and uva fragola (Vitis labrusca, fox grape). We hope he'll consider us both appreciative and friends.
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Mirko Tognetti
​

By the 1950s the tradition of artisan handmade gelato had almost been lost in Italy. Mirko couldn’t learn his art from his parents and grandparents. He started in a huge warehouse scheduling the efficient dispatch of goods. When the firm ran into trouble and made its employees redundant, Mirko was free to take up something closer to his heart. He visited a gelato trade fair only to be profoundly disillusioned. The stands were invaded by brightly coloured gelato and producers of semi-worked mixes which allowed anyone to make gelato with little effort and zero knowledge. Mirko began to think there was a better gelato waiting to be rediscovered. He swore that if he ever took up this craft, he would do everything from scratch and never, ever open a single packet. After two and a half years pursuing a formative path toward his goal, he was convinced he had arrived and could call himself a gelatiere. In 2013 Mirko opened the Cremeria Opera Naturali per Gusto in Lucca. It's now in the top fifty gelaterias in Italy.
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Fabio Moschini
​

Fabio began his career when he was only 22. The son of an hotelier, he attended a culinary institute and gathered some experience as a waiter. He started playing around with chocolate for fun, but soon he was hooked and began to study with famous maîtres chocolatiers. By 1990 he was ready to dive into the great adventure of his life, opening his own chocolate shop Cioccolato & Company at Massa e Cozzile (Montecatini Terme). His dedication and hard work soon brought him success, and he took on Adria Grazzini as an employee. She too was bitten by the chocolate bug, and between them they produce a range of handmade chocolates and gelato using natural ingredients. If I listed them here, you'd be drooling.
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Course Organiser


Erica Jarman

Following Heather’s careers as archaeologist, orchestra and artist manager and chef, she Italianised her name to Erica and came to Lucca to pursue her passion for traditional artisan food. Her tours, inspired by her infectious curiosity, open captivating new worlds to her guests.
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Fattoria Rozzalupi, Cerreto Guidi

​Originally the Renaissance hunting lodge of an aristocratic Florentine family, the Fattoria evolved into a typical agricultural hamlet which has been sensitively converted to guest accommodation by the brother-in-law of our truffle hunter (we like to keep it in the family). They have olive groves and produce olive oil. On-site restaurant, swimming pool, wifi. http://www.fattoriarozzalupi.it/en/index.htm
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Price
​
Per person: 1750 Euros

Deposit: €200 when you book
​Balance: due 8 weeks before course starts
​

The farm where you stay, the people you visit and who present the course are dedicated to preserving the patrimony of traditional olive oil. By coming on the course you will be supporting it too.

Includes

5 nights welcoming, relaxing accommodation, en suite bathrooms

Local ground transportation for 6 days

Daily continental breakfast, 5 lunches, 5 dinners

Course lectures and all activities shown on Course tab, course notes

Does not include

Airfares

Travel and cancellation insurance

Wine and drinks other than those served with meals, additional meals

Personal expenses such as telephone, mini-bar, etc.


Meeting points

Where: Pisa airport, Pisa Centrale station
When: no later than 12.00
If everyone arrives earlier, we'll pick you up as soon as everyone is there.

Recommended international travel:

Nearest airports: Pisa
​
Airlines from UK: British Airways, EasyJet, Ryanair

Airlines from outside Europe: You may have to fly to another European city and take a connecting flight or train to Pisa Centrale. There are good low-cost flights from many European cities. There are better train connections from Rome than from Milan.
​
Nearest train station: Pisa Centrale


Departure points

Where: Transfer to Pisa airport or train station

When: There will be one transfer no earlier than 8.30 am. Please don’t book trains that leave Pisa before 10.00 or flights that leave before 11.30. If you need to leave earlier, I can arrange a special transfer at your own expense.

​
Dress

Informal. Jeans are acceptable everywhere.


Weather
 
October
11–21˚C/52–70˚F, precipitation 119 mm/4.7 in

November
6–15˚C/43–59˚F, precipitation 122 mm/4.8 in

December
3–12˚C / 37–54˚F, precipitation 86 mm / 3.4 in


Itinerary is subject to change if necessary due to weather or agricultural conditions or other events outside our control.

​​​To request a booking form email info@sapori-e-saperi.com

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  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Resources
  • Tours
    • Small Group Tours >
      • Celebrating Sardinia
      • Tuscan Heritage
      • Giants of Sardinia
      • Autumn in Tuscany
      • Tastes & Textiles: Woad & Wool
      • Tastes & Textiles: Hanging by a Thread
      • Tastes & Textiles: Wine to Dye For
      • Tastes & Textiles: Sea Silk in Sardinia
    • Tastes and Textiles
    • Day Adventures
  • Courses
    • Advanced Salumi Course Tuscany
    • Advanced Salumi Course Bologna-Parma
    • Art & Science of Gelato
    • Artisan Bread Course Tuscany
    • Theory & Practice of Italian Cheese
    • Mozzarella & its Cousins
    • Mozzarella Consultancy
    • Olive Oil Tree to Table
    • Truffle Course
  • Booking
    • Enquiry
    • Booking Conditions
    • Covid-19
  • What people say
  • Blogs
  • Contact