Active Culinary Holiday in Umbria
Olive harvest, truffle hunt and wine tasting
This week is just right for you if you are interested in high-quality olive oil and the olive harvest, but would also like to learn more about other culinary specialties of Umbria, such as truffles or fine wines.
Upcoming dates:
What can you expect this week?
Saturday
Upon arrival a typical Umbrian dinner awaits you, served with Mediterranean temperament by our cook Mamma Ornella
Sunday to Tuesday
At an introductory lecture and olive oil tasting on Sunday morning, you will learn all you need to know about olive oil and the olive harvest.
Then the practical work begins. You will take part in the olive harvest over two days.
Then you can accompany us to the oil mill and watch how the olives you have picked are processed into first-class organic olive oil, from the weighing of the olives to the bottling of the fresh, fragrant oil.
Wednesday
You will visit a small but fine organic winemaker whose wines have won many awards and which you will of course also taste. There will be also a tasting of typical cured meats, the "Norcineria" named after the Umbrian town of Norcia, which is famous for proscuitto and salami.
Thursday
You will accompany a truffle hunter with his dog on a truffle hunt and will help to carefully dig up the precious truffles from the ground. Afterwards you will be spoiled with a multi-course menu with truffle delicacies.
After the truffle meal we will visit one of the last small traditional producers of Vin Santo, the sweet wine typical of central Italy.
You will learn how this wine has been produced in a traditional way for hundreds of years, what gives it its very special nuanced taste and what legends are associated with its name.
Friday
The day is free for excursions in the area rich in attractions on the border between Umbria and Tuscany.
Here you can visit many of the ancient Etruscan cities such as Perugia, Cortona, Montepulciano, Città della Pieve and countless others, or just enjoy the scenic countryside.
In the evening we have the olive picker's dinner as a farewell. Of course, you will also receive your picker's share of the olive oil you have picked.
Saturday
Departure
About the olive harvest
We start picking olives on Sunday and continue picking until midday on Tuesday.
Picking is done in small groups of 3-5 people. You can partake in the harvest as much or as little as you like. Please remember that picking olives is physically demanding work. You often have to climb ladders or trees. Picking olives in La Rogaia is not meant to be piecework, but rather simply fun and enabling a relaxing, almost meditative contact with nature. We therefore only pick our olives manually, not with machines. The amount of olives picked in one day is correspondingly lower, but the trees and the ears and nerves of the pickers are spared.
On Tuesday afternoon the olives are brought together to a small oil mill and the oil is pressed and bottled. Half of the olives you pick are yours, so you can take the oil home with you. Depending on the wheather during the picking week and on how diligently you pick, this can be between 1 and a maximum of 10 liters per person.
Rates:
EUR 980 per person per week with accommodation in a double room (with shared bathroom and kitchen for 3 to 4 people)
EUR 1180 per person per week with accommodation in a single room (with shared bathroom and kitchen for 2 to 3 people)
Included in the rate:
- Accommodation
- Welcome dinner (multi-course menu with all beverages)
- Introductory lecture about olive oil, olive cultivation and oil production
- Truffle hunt
- Vin Santo tasting
- Wine tasting
- Farewell dinner (multi-course menu with all beverages)
- Olive oil to take away (half of the oil pressed from the olives you picked)
- Fee for pressing the olive oil
- Tin containers for your olive oil
Note included in the rate:
- Extra charge for lodging in private apartment for 2 persons (with private bathroom, kitchenette and terrace): depending on the size of the apartment from EUR 60 to EUR 200 per person per week (double occupancy)
- Extra charge for lodging in private apartment for 1 person (with private bathroom, kitchenette and terrace): depending on the size of the apartment from EUR 300 to EUR 500 per person per week (single occupancy)
- Food (except for the meals described above): There is the possibility for selfcatering either in a spacious common kitchen or in the apartments. There are restaurants and shops at the village of Castel Rigone at 4 km distance from La Rogaia.
- Transfer to the olive mill, to the truffle hunt and to the wine tastings. Please use your own vehicles or share rides with other participants.
- Travel arrangement to and from La Rogaia. A detailled map and description how to get to La Rogaia and futher information about trains and flights you can find at how to get there.
Maximum number of participants: 16 persons
Photos on this page by Peter von Felbert - www.felbert.de
Book a Holiday at Zero Risk
Of course, we cannot predict the development of the COVID19 pandemic and the associated travel restrictions.
In view of the special situation, we have adjusted our cancellation policy for all bookings:
- If a course cannot take place due to "force majeure" (e.g. the COVID19 pandemic) or if the participants cannot travel due to travel restrictions, we grant free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of the course. We will refund your full payment.
- If we have to cancel the course from our side (e.g. due to insufficient number of participants), you will of course receive your full payment back. We will inform you at least one month before the course starts whether the course can take place or not. However, unfortunately we cannot assume any costs for flight bookings or the like that have already been made. We therefore recommend that you wait with flight bookings etc. until we have finally confirmed a class.
For all other reasons for cancellation, our usual cancellation conditions apply, which you can find HERE