Experiences at Villa Dianella: Tastings, Cooking, Truffles and New Adventures in the Vineyard

Villa Dianella is not simply a place where wine is made. It is a place where wine is lived. The hills between Vinci and Empoli, the vineyards following the natural contour of the landscape, the historic cellars carved beneath the sixteenth-century Medicean villa: everything here tells a story that makes far more sense when you walk through it in person.

The experiences offered by the estate are born from a simple idea: bringing people closer to wine, food and the territory through authentic moments, with the care one reserves for guests in one’s own home. From cellar tastings to truffle hunting in the woods, from Tuscan cooking courses to an exclusive dinner beneath Leonardo’s Vineyard — each of these experiences is a different way of entering the world of Dianella.

Cellar Tastings: Four Women, Four Paths of Discovery

At the heart of Villa Dianella’s experiential offering is the tour of the historic cellars with wine tasting.

The guided visit winds through the different areas where wines are processed and stored: the oak barrel cellar, the underground cellar, the ageing area and the modern winemaking cellar. Along the way, visitors encounter vintage machinery that testifies to the old systems of bottling, filtering, labelling and corking. Every object on display has a story to tell, brought to life by the guide accompanying you.

At the end of the tour, guests move on to a tasting of Dianella wines accompanied by typical Tuscan products. Each tasting formula bears a woman’s name — a tribute to the women who have shaped the history of this villa.

Donna Ida is the introductory experience: bruschetta with the estate’s organic extra virgin olive oil and a tasting of three wines. It is a first, essential encounter with the world of Dianella.

Donna Rita broadens the journey: cured meats and local cheeses join the bruschetta, again accompanied by three wines. It is the option for those who wish to turn the tasting into a fuller, more convivial moment.

Donna Emma adds a seasonal first course and Tuscan almond cantucci biscuits. The tasting extends to three wines plus Dolci Ricordi, Dianella’s late harvest sweet wine. From here, the experience begins to resemble a proper Tuscan lunch.

Donna Veronica is the most complete path: bruschetta, cured meats, cheeses, a first course, a main course with side dish, cantucci and a tasting of three wines plus the late harvest. It bears the name of Veronica Passerin d’Entrèves, who together with Francesco leads the estate today. It is the richest way to discover Dianella through food and wine.

For those wishing to go further, the Premium Wine tasting is available: three selected vintage and award-winning wines, which can be added to any formula.

All tastings are available in Italian and English, by reservation.

The Cooking School: From the Garden to the Table

The kitchen at Villa Dianella is not only the chef’s domain. It is also an experience that guests can live first-hand.

The Tuscan cooking course begins in the farm’s vegetable garden with the harvesting of seasonal ingredients. Then it moves to the kitchen for approximately three hours, in an informal, family atmosphere. Students receive aprons, chef’s hats and all necessary utensils, and prepare a complete meal: panzanella, tagliatelle with seasonal sauce, beef or pork tenderloin with a side dish and tiramisù. Once everything is ready, the meal is shared together, paired with Dianella wines.

For those seeking something more distinctive, the Leonardian cooking course offers an homage to the land of Leonardo. Renaissance-inspired recipes are prepared: Vincian soup, stale bread dumplings with wild boar sauce, grilled roulades and fried cream of millet. The chef shares anecdotes about the cooking utensils and court receptions devised by Leonardo da Vinci — an experience that only works here, a few kilometres from the genius’s birthplace.

The Cooking Show: Watch, Take Part, Savour

Those who prefer to observe rather than cook can choose the cooking show. Seated in front of the cooking station, guests watch Chef Alessio Bagnoli at work, take part in small preparations and then taste the dishes, paired with the estate’s wines.

The menu changes with the seasons and with what the farm’s vegetable garden offers. An example: a Tuscan appetiser with tomato bruschetta and express-fried garden vegetables paired with Sereno e Nuvole, Vermentino IGT Dianella. Then zucchini and ricotta fresh pasta tortelli with squash flower sauce and Tuscan goat’s cheese, paired with Chianti Dianella DOCG. Larded tenderloin on a bed of crispy potatoes with Il Matto, Sangiovese IGT. And to finish, tiramisù with Dolci Ricordi, the Late Harvest Dianella.

The cooking show can also be booked exclusively for an even more intimate and personalised experience.

Leonardian Experiences: Dining with the Genius of Vinci

Leonardo was not only a painter and inventor. He was also a master of ceremonies at the court of Ludovico il Moro and a man passionate about wine and food — interests that link him deeply to Villa Dianella and the territory of Vinci.The Leonardian experience includes a visit to Leonardo’s Vineyard, the pergola planted on 2 May 2019 for the five hundredth anniversary of Leonardo’s death, using cuttings from the vineyard that Ludovico il Moro gifted to Leonardo at the Casa degli Atellani in Milan.The journey continues with a tour of the historic wine cellars and a viewing of cooking tools inspired by Leonardo’s inventions, concluding with the Leonardian menu: Vincian soup, stale bread dumplings with wild boar sauce, grilled roulades and fried cream of millet. Everything is accompanied by the wines Orpicchio and Acquarosa, the latter produced following Leonardo’s recipe noted on page 438 of the Codex Atlanticus.We do not know for certain what Leonardo ate. The menu is not original, but was designed by our chef taking into consideration the ingredients available at the time, cooking techniques and seasonality. It is a journey through time that moves from vineyard to table.

Private Dining: An Exclusive Dinner in Four Settings

For those who desire a truly private, unrepeatable experience, Villa Dianella offers four different settings for an exclusive dinner by Chef Alessio Bagnoli.Dinner in the vineyard takes place beneath the pergola of Leonardo’s Vineyard, in the villa’s Italian garden. It is the most spectacular option, with the sunset over the hills of Vinci and the vine rows as the only backdrop.Dinner in the villa is held in the historic rooms of the Medicean residence, among period furnishings and frescoes. For those seeking a more intimate atmosphere, dinner in the historic kitchen offers a unique setting: guests eat in the very place where the food is prepared, in direct contact with the chef. Dinner in the cellar brings guests into the underground heart of the estate, among stone arches and oak barrels.Each private dinner requires a minimum of six guests and is designed for special occasions: anniversaries, birthdays, corporate dinners or simply for those who wish to experience Dianella in an exclusive way.

Truffle Hunting: Into the Woods with Dog and Tartufaio

In the woods of the estate, an area naturally devoted to mushroom and truffle production, guests can take part in an authentic truffle hunt.The experience leads guests through the colours and scents of the woodland alongside the tartufaio and his dog. A walk that allows you to breathe in the Tuscan air and understand the centuries-old relationship between man, dog and nature.On return from the hunt, guests sit down to a dedicated menu: bruschetta with truffle, bruschetta with fresh tomato and basil, a selection of truffle cheeses, tagliolini with truffle and cantucci biscuits, all accompanied by a bottle of Dianella wine.Truffle hunting is available in autumn, winter and spring — the seasons when truffles are at their best in the hills around Vinci. The experience can also be booked exclusively.

Coming Soon: The Vineyard as Stage

With the arrival of the warm season, Villa Dianella is preparing new experiences that will bring guests even closer to the heart of the estate — directly among the vine rows.Among the planned additions is the vineyard walk with tasting: a path on foot through the estate’s different plots, accompanied by those who know the vineyard intimately. Guests will observe up close the differences between clay-rich and sandier soils, discover the marine fossils that surface after cultivation and understand how the soils of the Vinci Formation shape the character of the wines. The walk will conclude with an open-air tasting, directly in the vineyard.Another experience in preparation is the vineyard brunch: the table set no longer in the cellars, but directly in the vineyard, in the shade of the vines. A seasonal menu prepared by the Bistrot delle Scuderie kitchen, Dianella wines paired throughout and the landscape of the Vinci hills as the only setting.Finally, the picnic hamper will move among the vine rows. Villa Dianella is working to offer the possibility of enjoying a picnic directly in the vineyard, with blanket, glasses and everything needed to sit among the vines and watch the sunset with a glass of Chianti Dianella.These are experiences born from a simple conviction: the best place to understand a wine is the place where it is born.

How to Book

All experiences at Villa Dianella are available by reservation. For information, details and availability, guests can contact the estate on 0571 508166, via WhatsApp or by writing to info@villadianella.it.Tastings and cooking courses are available all year round. Truffle hunting runs in autumn, winter and spring. The new vineyard experiences will be active from spring through to autumn. Advance booking is recommended, especially at weekends and during holiday periods.Villa Dianella is located at Via Dianella 48, 50059 Vinci (FI), less than one hour from both Florence and Pisa.

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Experiences at Villa Dianella: Tastings, Cooking, Truffles and New Adventures in the Vineyard

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