“Discover. Create. Savour. ”
7 Day Farm-to-Table Luxury Gastronomic Retreat in the Heart of Untouched Italy
Villa Olivo, 2 Contrada Castelletta, Strada Pisciarelle, Civitanova Marche, MC, 62012 Italy
Wine Tasting & Cooking Vacation in Italy
Join Villa Olivo on a luxury culinary slow cooking experience in the heart of Le Marche, Italy. Learn the art of Italian cuisine with over 10 hours of hands-on cooking lessons, meet the makers and visit local oil, truffle, and wine producers, and enjoy the culinary delights of Qubi chefs whilst you relax in your own luxury hilltop retreat and spa. The itinerary is carefully designed to create the right balance between cooking, eating, trips, tours, and tastings, while also leaving room for relaxation and exploring the beautiful surroundings. From the moment you arrive until your departure, Villa Olivo team will ensure everything is taken care of.
Meet the instructors
Mariagiulia & Gabriele
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Highlights
- Over 10 hours of cooking lessons
- Trips to vineyards, truffle hunting, olive oil tours, tastings, meet local farmers
- Make cheese, pizza base, pasta, sauces, bread, desserts, and traditional local dishes
- Breakfast, lunch and 3-course dinners prepared by your personal chefs
- Wine, prosecco, water, and soft drinks
- 6 nights' luxury accommodation
- Use of all facilities
Skill level
- Beginner
- Intermediate
Styles
6 days with instruction in English
The organizer also speaks: Italian
Group size: 12-20 participants
Airport transfer available:
Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport (US$395 per person)
Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport (US$395 per person)
Airport transfer available:
Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (US$564 per person)
Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (US$564 per person)
Airport transfer available:
Ancona Falconara Airport (US$113 per person)
Ancona Falconara Airport (US$113 per person)
Accommodation
Facilities
- Gym
- Health Club
- Hot tub / Jacuzzi
- Sauna
- Shopping
- Spa
- Steam room
- Swimming pool (outdoor)
- Table tennis
- Air-conditioned public areas
- Air-conditioned rooms
- Barbeque facilities
- Café
- Concierge desk
- Dining area
- Environmentally friendly
- Fireplace
- Garden
- Honesty bar
- Kitchen
- Lobby
- Lounge
- Luggage room / storage
- Meditation garden
- Multilingual staff
- Picnic area
- Smoke-free property
- Special menu request
- Terrace
- Yoga deck
- Yoga shala
- Yoga studio
- Baby sitting
- Bicycle rental
- Conference room
- Convenience / grocery store
- Dry cleaning
- Free parking
- Free Wi-Fi
- Internet access
- Ironing / ironing board
- Laundry
- Medical assistance
- Meeting room
- Parking lot
- Tour assistance
- Wedding
- Wireless internet
- Outdoor shower
Set amidst rolling hills, olive groves and ancient vineyards and just 10 minutes from the coast and local town, Villa Olivo has been beautifully crafted and newly renovated to the highest standards, with six double ensuite bedrooms, its own spa, gym, fire pit, heated infinity pool and over 600 square meters of living space including its purposefully large open plan kitchen designed for cooking retreats.
A hilltop luxury retreat offers year-round exceptional luxury, five-star services and authentic experiences for 12 people in the heart of the authentic and undiscovered, Le Marche.
Program
Day 1 - Arrival and welcome
Arrive at Villa Olivo to a welcome Aperitivo. Take your time to settle in, meet the other guests and restore in the in-home gym, spa or tennis courts. Or, if you want to stretch your legs, you could walk up to the 13th-century village of Civitanova Alta a few minutes up the road and grab a coffee or freshly made gelato. Later, see the chefs at work and enjoy your first beautifully cooked, typical three-course Marchigiana meal.
Day 2 - Olive oil and pasta making course
After breakfast, visit an award-winning olive grove, using rarely used, traditional methods to produce extra virgin olive oil, the Italian liquid gold. Next, enjoy an olive oil tasting session, you'll even get to taste an olive oil jam! See the olives being carefully collected from the trees. You'll even get to see their 600-year-old olive tree!
After lunch, get hands-on and learn how to make three different pastas and complementary sauces, Ascolani olives, and delicious cremini fritti. Later enjoy a delicious meal.
Day 3 - Wine tasting in the hilltops
Celebrate the annual Appassimenti in a tiny hilltop village surrounded by five wineries. Appassimenti is a unique drying process, rooted in Roman times. The grapes are hung and dried before crushing, which enables them to achieve a unique taste to the wine. One of the highest vineyards in Italy, these unique wineries that hang their grapes, produce the only black Vernaccia in the land. Later, enjoy a delicious three-course risotto dinner at Villa Olivo.
Day 4 - Traditional cheese and pizza making
Experience the art of traditional cheese-making using authentic methods passed down through generations. Learn how to make three types of cheeses from cow's milk and how to stretch your own mozzarella.
Using your cheese, make a typical Calcione ricotta dessert as well as Crescia Marchigiana (a typical bread from the area). Later, learn the art of creating the perfect pizza base, and then use your freshly made cheese as part of your ingredients! After a trip to the spa, enjoy your creations over dinner.
Day 5 - Truffle hunting in the hills
Dust off your apron and put on your walking shoes to learn the art of truffle hunting whilst enjoying the Italian countryside. Learn how to find and collect them as well as how to recognize the different types.
Enjoy an authentic truffle lunch where you can try different seasonal truffles and savor their unique flavor. Later, take some time to relax your tired legs in the spa and then look forward to an incredible truffle dinner back at the Villa.
Day 6 - Ascoli Piceno, vineyard with a view and fine dining
Visit the beautiful medieval Ascoli Piceno where you can find a fantastic mixture of delicious food, a lively historic center full of ancient Roman buildings, monuments, and theatres including two incredible piazzas. Enjoy your free time here, and on your way back visit a vineyard overlooking the region's patchwork hills. Come home to your last dinner created by your personal chefs; an incredible fine dining experience with paired wines.
Day 7 - Goodbye brunch
Enjoy breakfast at Villa Olivo, swap details with the friends you have made, and receive a little gift bag complete with recipe cards and a little gift from Villa Olivo to you.
Included excursions
- Visit the winemakers and vineyards
- Go truffle hunting
- Visit olive oil producers
- Travel through the Monte Sibilini Mountains
- Visit Ascoli Piceno
Instructors
Mariagiulia & Gabriele
A cooking experience that reconnects you with real food through home-grown, farm-to-table, organic and zero-food-miles produce in the heart of Italy. Slow Food-inspired Milan based chefs, Mariagiulia and Gabriele are passionate about their food and experienced in sharing the traditional methods of Italian cuisine and using only locally-sourced, Italian rich and seasonal produce in the hands-on cookery course and delicious meals they create. At Villa Olivo's Gastronomic retreat, you will experience authentic Italian culture through seasonal activities paired with local artisans, farmers, an
Location
Discover the beauty, history, and culture of one of Italy’s most enchanting regions, Le Marche. Recently voted as the number 2 worldwide region to visit in 2020 by Lonely Planet and heralded by the Telegraph, Epoch Times, and Forbes magazine as "Tuscany without the crowds."
Le Marche is truly the best of Italy wrapped up in one region, perfectly situated and within easy driving distance of most places around Italy.
Le Marche is one of Italy’s most unspoilt and picturesque regions. Easily accessible by plane, train and car, this enchanting area is nestled between the dramatic Sibillini mountains and the coastline of the Adriatic Sea. Situated in the East of Italy, Le Marche offers all the natural beauty and rich cultural heritage of Tuscany, but without the crowds.
Here, you can discover an authentic way of life, where the seasons lead the daily rhythms of the people and the local industry. With its endless coastlines of clean, quiet beaches, breathtaking mountain ranges and charming historic towns, Le Marche ticks all the boxes for those seeking an authentic Italian escape, and perfect to see traditional methods of recipes and production techniques passed down from one generation to the next.
Food
Meals will vary from in-cooked meals by your very own chefs, to lunches outside the Villa and Estate. You will experience a mix of typical Marchigiana meals alongside fine dining menus.
All drinks during the meals are included. Any alcoholic or soft drinks consumed outside of the meals are additional and can be paid for at the end of your stay.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Drinks
The following drinks are included:
- Water
- Coffee
- Tea
- Alcoholic beverages
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Vegetarian
- Gluten Free
- Organic
- Seafood
If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation
Things to do (optional)
There are many things to do in the area, such as visits to the mountains, local designer shops or the beautiful coastline areas such as the Conero area. Please send an inquiry for more information.
Spa treatments
Should you wish to have a spa treatment such as Thai massage, Ayurvedic massage, yoga session or personal trainer session, please let Villa Olivo know when making a reservation, they can book this in for your stay.
What's included
- 6 nights' luxury accommodation - all en-suite
- Use of all facilities including spa, sauna, jacuzzi, steam room, gym, heated pool, and tennis court
- Over 10 hours of cooking lessons where you will to make cheese, pizza base, pasta, sauces, bread, desserts and traditional local dishes
- Breakfast, lunch and 3-course dinners prepared by your personal chefs throughout your stay
- Wine and prosecco during meals, water, and soft drinks
- All included tours and transportation to vineyards, Apassimenti (November only), truffle hunting, olive oil tours, tastings, transportation and meeting local farmers
- Visit Ascoli Piceno and high-quality vineyard including transportation
- Access to significant discounts on purchasing wine to take home
- Daily housekeeping
- Complimentary Davines toiletries
- Luxury magazines
- Recipe cards to take home
What's not included
- Transportation too and from Villa Olivo (this can be arranged on request)
- Flights to Italy
- Wine, alcoholic beverages outside of mealtimes
- Other additional activities such as massages
How to get there
Recommended Airports
BLQ
Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport
234 km
Transfer available for additional US$395 per person
FCO
Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport
206 km
Transfer available for additional US$564 per person
AOI
Ancona Falconara Airport
41 km
Transfer available for additional US$113 per person
Arrival by airplane
Please book your flight to arrive at Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (FCO), Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport (BLQ), or Ancona Falconara Airport (AOI). Villa Olivo can do group pick up and drop off for up to 25 people.
There's also a bus and train station only 10 minutes from the villa. For more information, please send an inquiry.
Airport: Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport
Airport transfer available:
Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport (US$395 per person)
Additional charges may apply. You can request this in the next step.
Airport: Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport
Airport transfer available:
Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (US$564 per person)
Additional charges may apply. You can request this in the next step.
Airport: Ancona Falconara Airport
Airport transfer available:
Ancona Falconara Airport (US$113 per person)
Additional charges may apply. You can request this in the next step.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 20% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 30 days before arrival.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through BookCulinaryVacations.com. All major credit cards supported.
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