Hunting for Porcini Mushrooms

Porcini mushrooms love cool damp ground, so in the spring and the fall when the leaves are falling and rain is frequent, the porcini start to pop from the ground.

Yesterday, we woke to a heavy fog over the vineyards and Fausto, Giuseppe’s dad told me this morning was the perfect time to hunt for mushroom. Of course, he was already out and scouted the area.

I quickly don my work clothes and add a vest because it has gotten chilly these last few days. The

only scarf at my fingertips is a Burberry one, a little glamorous for hunting mushrooms but I wrap it around my neck with a chuckle. Down in the cellar, I slip on my muck boots and grab a small wicker basket and head out into the brisk morning air. I feel excited, just like a five year old with my Easter basket going out to find colorful eggs hidden in the lawn.

Finding mushrooms takes knowledge, keen eyesight and a little luck. First, you must think, “If I were a porcini, where would live?” Fausto knows a shady spot, down a slope, close to the lake with lots of moisture and a canopy of trees for both protection from the sun and to create a ground cover of leaves. We stop short and he tells me to stand only where I can see dirt without leaves. I don’t want to step on one by mistake or kill a baby that is too small to see. Then he takes his stick and marks out a 4 foot by 4 foot spot and tells me to find a mushroom. I scan the ground and see nothing but brown. I see dried leaves, small twigs and dirt.

Fausto takes a giant step into the space and with two fingers moves away some leaves and

there is a 3 inch diameter cap of the mushroom, just as brown as everything else. He carefully pulls the whole mushroom from its little nest and gently brushes off the dirt. Now I know to look for a lump in the browness. This is not going to be as easy as I thought, but I am up for the challenge.

Soon our little basket has 6 beautiful, fragrant porcinis. I want to keep looking because it is fun and I want to get all we can, but Fausto says this is enough for our lunch today. We can come back tomorrow and get more. This is a new concept for me. Enough is Enough. Take what you need just for today. Carla, Giuseppe’s mom rolls out some homemade tagliatelli pasta, Giuseppe pours the Chianti and I send up a little prayer of Gratitude. Life is good. Life is very, very good.

Fall Festival Time in Tuscany

Fall is the time when each little village has its festival. In Montevarchi, we have been celebrating the "Festival of Forgiveness" for almost 700 years. On the main street of downtown, Via Roma, restaurants and bars put up tents and offer home cooked food, wine and beer. They dress up in medieval costumes and accept only old coins for payment. We change a euro for "varchi." They are heavy old coins that come in a little draw string pouch. Each person walks around with a pouch of money tied to their belt.

A parade with music, men in tights, women and children in old customs, horses, drums and flags marches through the streets, then makes its way to the main piazza just as the bells chime for 8pm . The priest, in full long dress, blesses the town and the people before the games begin. The game is a medieval ball competition that is a cross between basketball and tag football with the goal being to put the ball into the well. Dirt is put into the circle of the piazza and hay bails mark the perimeter and a well in places in the middle. Only men play this very physical game and take it very seriously. There is a team for each quadrant of the town. They too wear old costumes.

You can celebrate fall with us by opening a bottle of wine and toasting to forgiveness. In the heat of summer, we drink the Malvasia. It is light and clean and goes well with summer vegetables and fish. As the weather cools, we start drinking more Chianti. The Chianti is always best with food, especially all the wonderful homegrown tomatoes we have in the garden now. It is well known for being a classic table wine found in every Tuscan home.

We eat every lunch and dinner together sitting at the table with a tablecloth and of course red wine. After lunch at noon , we stay at the table for at least an hour and let the food digest. In summer, we usually nap after lunch and stay in the house until around 5 pm when the temperature cools down before going back outside. Dinner is usually served at 8 or 9pm because it stays light so long in summer. Now as the days are getting shorter, it is still hot but the mornings are fresh and the evening are getting a little chilly.

The weather has been great for the grapes. Hot dry days and cool nights are perfect for the sugar content. The grapes are getting bigger and are a deep purple color. We still have about three weeks until harvest.

Olive Oil Pressing in Tuscany

In Tuscany, the olives are picked in the fall after the grape harvest. At I Selvatici Winery, we have about 200 hundred trees and produce olive oil just for our family and employees. The olives are picked from the tree and allowed to fall on ground where a net has been laid. Each tree produces a half to a full container about the size of a recycling bin.

The tractor is driven onto an industrial scale and weighed. It will be weighed again after we unload the oils in the trailer to determine how many pounds of olives we have to be processed.

We picked 33 containers of olives about the size of a recyling bin. About 1600 pounds of raw olives produces about four milk cans ( the one being carried in the other photo). The whole process takes about one hour and costs about $200 for processing.

First the olives are washed, then ground into a mash, including the seeds. We use both black and green olives. The mash is put into the press and the liquid that comes out is then seperated-water from oil. The oil is filtered and ready to consume. In the grocery store, look for five words- 'Extra Virgin First Cold Pressed.'

Happy Day!!!

This is a once a year event. This olive oil will be enough for our families for one year.

Last Year's Vintage vs. This Year's Vintage

Olive oil starts to lose it's flavor from the moment it is pressed. As you can see here, the color changes dramatically with age. You want to buy the freshest available and don't save it. Olive oil is only made once a year, so if you buy it in January or September, it is the same vintage. The key is knowing the harvest date. Unfortunately, the 'use by date' found on the back label is often 2 or 3 years after the harvest. Some brands are now putting 'harvest date' on the bottles.

Grape Crush In Tuscany at I Selvatici Winery

The grape crush is a big event at this small family winery. It happens just once a year for about two weeks.

Imagine, this is a whole year's work and we get just once chance to make wine each year.

The weather plays the biggest role. We hope for the best conditions -sun, rain, and temperatures. This is why the vintage date is so important because the grapes are different each year depending on the weather.

Grape Harvest in Tuscany II

Here the workers are waiting for the morning dew to dry before beginning to pick. The selected grapes are taken by tractor and wagon to the cellar where they will be crushed.


This is Giuseppe Sala, third generation wine maker and owner of I Selvatici Winery.

The Grape Harvest

Fall at the winery in a very busy time. In September or October, we harvest by hand picking the grapes. It takes about 15 people two weeks to pick. These are sangiovese grapes, the primary grape of Chianti. Our super tuscan, called Cardisco ( the medievel word for the grape sangiovese) is 100% sangiovese.