Autumn is one of my favorite times in Tuscany. The leaves are changing color in the hills, also on the trees lining the city boulevards. The air is becoming cool and crisp, and the days shorter. It is time to prepare for the upcoming winter months.

Grapes are harvested in September, and olives are plucked from the trees in late October. Chestnuts are in season.

The grape harvest brings an array of sights and smells at local wineries. Once the grapes are harvested, fermentation of the grapes begins (see Tuscan wine tour video for some footage of part of fermentation process).

The smell of grapes fills the air. Large tanks are pumping and churning the new grapes to turn them into wine…

The olive harvest starts in late October in Tuscany. Their oil is considered an “early harvest” extra virgin, because they pick the olives while they are still young and firm. The early harvest results in a fruity, peppery olive oil.

The chestnuts. Oh, the chestnuts. There are entire festivals to celebrate these rich, healthy little guys. My favorite is in a town called Morradi, toward the end of October. A steam train leaves from the central station of Florence, and takes you north toward the region of Emiglia Romagna, weaving through tunnels, in and out of valleys…and arriving in adorable Morradi.

At the festival, you can try all kinds of foods made with chestnuts.

Castagnaccio, a dessert made with chestnut flour and often raisins, pine nuts… it depends, as every family has their own recipe and claims THEIRS to be THE recipe…

Purists can have roasted chestnuts, my personal favorite. When roasted, the chestnuts become sweet and almost meaty.

Another thing not to miss in Tuscany during the fall:

A walk on the walls of Lucca. The wall circles the historic part of Lucca, and has a tree lined path where you can walk, ride a bike (rentals available near tourist office), or bring a picnic and watch the locals talking and playing cards at picnic tables. I love walking under the trees as they lose their leaves this time of year.

Images in this Tuscany post are owned and copyrighted by Toni Mazzaglia, 2006.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 11th, 2007 at 5:44 pm and is filed under Italy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.