Tenuta di Forci is a working estate, still making its own wine and pressing its own olives after a thousand years. Locals will tell you it’s the best olive oil in the area, and its wine is a favorite with Abbondanza Toscana guests. Forci also produces pecorino cheese and ricotta, a wide range of honeys and vinegars, and a smooth grappa.

Selva retains the ambience of a 600-year-old farmhouse, with its grand fireplace and wine cantina, yet has all the amenities expected by 21st century guests: central heating, modern and numerous bathrooms, even Internet access. The wood-fired oven is used for bread-making lessons for the cooking courses, and our weekly pizza night is offered to participants of all courses and tours.

The old barn, with its traditional latticed terra cotta windows, is the site of the cooking school kitchen, a spacious rustic room with modern equipment. You only have to take a step outside to cut herbs for your dishes or pick fresh lemons or apples.

The stunning and peaceful landscape, the warm people and the absorbing courses at times make it difficult for people to leave Selva. The quiet, the views and the personal "nooks" cause some people to say, “I’m staying right here.”