Castello di Casole, A Belmond Hotel in the heart of the Tuscan countryside: Nature and Gastronomy are the focus of the new season 

Castello di Casole is delighted to announce its reopening today, Friday 1 April, with a busy programme of weekly gastronomic and thematic events throughout the season.

THE GARDENS - THE VEGETABLE GARDENS AND THE CASTELLO DI CASOLE ROSE
A new project offers the perfect combination of nature, gastronomy and hospitality: the Orti del Castello, over a hectare of land for cultivation that also includes spaces dedicated to welcoming guests to make their experience in Tuscan nature more immersive. Directly producing vegetables, fruit and edible flowers to accompany the estate’s other products, including wine, olive oil, and honey, Executive Chef Daniele Sera, at the Tosca restaurant, develops a line of cuisine that is entirely ‘from farm to table’, organic and seasonal. Customers can learn about cultivation techniques, pick produce from the garden themselves, taste them in the restaurant’s dishes and buy them at the Emporio del Castello, experiencing the true essence of Tuscan life. With this ambitious project, Castello di Casole is reinforcing its agricultural vocation in line with the philosophy of its food and wine range based on the pursuit of absolute quality and sustainability. It is also creating a ‘vegetable garden’ that is cleverly integrated with the layout of the gardens and the natural scenery around the estate to engage guests and make them more aware. Also new this year is the Castello di Casole Rose, specially created for the Castle by renowned nurseryman Rose Barni using expert hybridisation techniques. The rose, located in the main roundabout in front of the hotel entrance, welcomes customers on their arrival together with the large facing rose garden, which has 6,000 roses of 50 different types. From May to late autumn, hotel guests will be able to stroll along the walkways in and around the rose garden and appreciate its scents and colours as they relax on the benches positioned along the path, which at night become comfortable places to admire the magical starry sky. Traditional picnics in the large and well-maintained Castle gardens are offered this year to resident guests and the public in three versions: Picnic among the roses of the rose garden, the new Picnic from the garden to the basket, with a vegetarian menu entirely created with seasonal products that can be directly eaten in the garden, in the shade of a cypress tree or under the pergola, and Tuscan picnic to be enjoyed in the amphitheatre at sunset, another iconic and evocative place on the property.

GASTRONOMIC EVENTS
From 24 May to September, the Castle courtyard will host gastronomic events every Tuesday and Friday evening. The programme starts on Tuesday with a fish dinner and continues on Friday with a dinner under the stars based on local products and traditional Tuscan and Italian cuisine. During these evenings, guests can breathe the typical atmosphere of an ancient Tuscan village, revived with the recreation of a small village festival animated by live music. Twice a month Astronomitaly, the Astronomical Tourism Network, will participate in the dinners under the stars to observe one of the most beautiful skies in Italy in the amphitheatre. The experts will offer guests an insight into the sky and its constellations, which they can admire with both the naked eye and the aid of telescopes. Castello di Casole also becomes the ideal place to enjoy a good pizza with friends. This year the Emporio’s pizzeria will also be a new meeting place for external customers, open every day for lunch and dinner, except Tuesdays and Fridays. Cooked in the old 16th-century wood-fired oven with selected ingredients, the pizza at the Castle is made with Paolo Mariani flour, mother yeast created by chef Daniele Sera in 2011, Slow Food Miracolo di San Gennaro tomatoes, carefully selected mozzarella, olive oil produced on the estate and fresh products grown in the new Castle Vegetable Garden. On the Tosca terrace, which offers a breathtaking view of the most authentic Tuscan countryside, Sunday Lunch is an opportunity to share pleasant times with friends and family This year, Chef Daniele Sera is presenting a four-course set menu with fish delicacies on Sundays in April, May and a seasonal menu linked to the flavours of autumn in the months of September, October and November.

A special four-course Easter menu will also be served for both lunch and dinner during Easter.
Reservations are required for each event.
For information and reservations for all activities: 0577 961501 or concierge.cdc@belmond.com