Villa Di Capovento Castellina in Chianti

Villa di Capovento is built of stone, as is typical in Chianti. Oil and watercolor paintings by my father line the walls, and the windows are dressed with raw linen curtains that were woven by a local craftsman.

The furniture comes from my mother’s collection – she wasn’t one for stamp-collecting but this… Each piece comes from a different period but all represent a beautiful Tuscany style.

Stella and I collect flowers and shrubs every week to decorate the house. We like to catch the scent of the bunches of oregano on the tables, and the lavender from our garden in each bathroom.

We have a weakness for candles and these, along with details from lives lived, books and old photos, fill Villa di Capovento naturally with atmosphere.

We don’t really go for things that are pre-arranged or pre-packaged. So if there’s anything else you might like, beyond the services we already offer, feel free to ask. It’s important for us that you have things just the way you like them.

When the sun sends its rays over the wonderful view that is the backdrop to our days, we like to sit “in that place” and listen to the sound of silence. If you tune your ears you’ll notice there’s no mistaking it, nothing else sounds like the beauty that surrounds us.

The tune is written on the curves of the hills that stretch to the horizon and the trees that shake their branches like an orchestra where the leaves twirl and the wind recites its poetry.

THE GARDEN
The pool of the Villa di Capovento is really in the countryside, its unlimited spaces ideal for balancing out your thoughts. Bring a good book as this is the most perfect spot to suit whatever you’re reading. It’s also a great place to share a laugh, or more intense emotions.

You’ll feel right away that this is a magical garden. It blends in and fades away with the Tuscan countryside to offer you an enchanting view. This is nature unspoiled, yet well kept and tidy.

There are shaded areas under the shadow of oaks, cypresses, and pines, and where the sun melts the freshness of the brooms, releasing scents of rosemary, juniper, and lavender.

We like sharing our daily life and showing how simple and beautiful it is. Villa di Capovento isn’t just a place to stay for a short time; Villa di Capovento is us for you: we welcome you with a smile and a hug “goodbye”, with a heart full of memories.

At Villa di Capovento every choice is made consciously and each gesture an act of love. To our earth, our nature, the air we breathe, and also to ourselves. Because sharing the green experience with our guests is the most natural thing in the world and the one that makes us most passionate.

THE WATER
The most precious resource we have. It springs from our own natural source, through an ancient collection system still in use, and we use it for household needs and for drinking.

As the water is from our spring, we don’t have enough to spare to keen the garden completely green, especially during the drier months. And so we’ve chosen to leave the garden to its own natural colors, and we can appreciate the various shades of brown and yellow as well as green.

THE SUN
Our electricity is generated by the sun. We have a photovoltaic system which not only covers our own usage but also feeds into the regional grid.

THE OLIVE GROVE
We don’t just garner olive oil from our olive trees, they also provide the main source of energy for heating the house. During the olive harvesting season, we make use of a special machine at our local oil press which separates the olive stones which have already been crushed by the already-dried pulp.

The crushed stones resemble small timber pellets, and we collect them in thousand-kilo bags and use them as fuel in our bio-mass plant.

ROOMS & SUITES
Outside lies all the natural beauty of Chianti. Inside, our six enchanting rooms: the silence and tranquility are so precious we didn’t want any more rooms than that.

The spaces are naturally generous, offering you a comfortable room with terrace, balcony, veranda, and jacuzzi. And an incredible panoramic view over the hills of Chianti.

DELUXE PANORAMIC ROOM
Even when you’re not sleeping in the comfortable double bed with memory mattress, you’ll still be dreaming of the large panoramic terrace with a 270° view over the pool of Villa di Capovento and the majestic Tuscan hills. It’s no coincidence we call this the Deluxe Panoramic room.

DINING
Here at Villa di Capovento we make everything in-house using family recipes, our own spring water, local ingredients, and our own aromatic herbs.

Stella kneads the bread by hand every day; Ettore selects the ingredients, vegetables, and seasonal fruit, always experimenting with new combinations.

This is our traditional cuisine, from our own extra-virgin organic D.O.P. olive oil to Stella’s limoncello, all made simply but with quality: the flavors of an older time but with a flourish of creativity!

Each morning there’s always a freshly-baked tart waiting at breakfast. And for dinner, we offer six dishes on a small à la carte daily menu, always different.

For everything else, we don’t really keep hours here: just let us know when you feel hungry and we’ll serve up something for lunch or a snack anytime during the day.

We like to experiment in the kitchen, but our main focus is always the authenticity of the ingredients.

We like to eat food that is simple but well made, where the main thing is the quality of the primary material. And this is how we start our work in the kitchen, from the constant search for the best ingredients. “Flavor”: that’s what we offers our guests.

At Capovento it’s the flavor that makes all the difference.

THE OLIVE OIL
We have 1,477 olive trees at Capovento from which we harvest olives and oil for our cooking. Like most of the ingredients we use for cooking, the extra-virgin olive oil we produce is organic and certified by the relevant bodies as D.O.P. Chianti Classico.

The climate and morphology of our land allows us to produce a limited quality, and so our oil is for the exclusive use for our guests and direct sales.

Its authenticity, its strong green notes of grass and artichoke, with a definite bitter vein as well as a balanced, harmonic spice ensure it is a base ingredient in all our cooking. Actually, we never send a dish out to your table without first seasoning it with a drizzle of raw oil.

THE LIMONCELLO
Capovento might be in Chianti but it has a taste of the citrus of Sicily, where Stella’s parents keep lemon trees on the island of Favignana.

Every January we get to produce our delicious liquor from these lemons: intoxicating, digestive, magical. So when you see us appear with a cold, yellow bottle at the end of your meal, be prepared to savor Stella’s famous limoncello.

THE BREAKFAST
Our buffet breakfast is special. Every morning we make with our own bread, tarts (different each day), yogurt, juices, and freshly-squeezed seasonal fruits. Our honey is from Maremma and the jam is from the Tuscan Appennines. Water, sparkling and still, is from our own spring.

THE LUNCH
We don’t have set hours but you can have lunch whenever you feel like it, we’re available for you and the kitchen is always open. Alternatively, you can book a Wine Tasting at Capovento, with a selection of wines, some local cheeses and meats. Contact us for more information.

THE DINNER
Every evening between 7:30 pm and 9 pm we offer a small à la carte menu of the day, offering six dishes – typically a cold plate, soup, two starters, and two mains. The one thing that’s never fixed is that it changes from day to day according to the ingredients that nature provides us, yet again.

THE HOMEMADE BEAUTY PRODUCTS 
For over forty years our family has been devoted to producing natural beauty products based on plant extracts in our laboratory in Prato.

Each guest will find in their room a toiletries set containing a shower gel made from Capovento’s own olive oil, containing flower essence and organic oil.

In addition, guests who book their stay directly with the Villa di Capovento website will receive a small appreciation from us: a gift box with body cream, shower gel, and soap all made naturally from extra-virgin olive oil.

E-BIKE
Hire one of our pedal-assisted mountain bikes whenever you feel like it. The best way to explore the beautiful hills of Chianti, without getting too tired, and being able to fully enjoy and respect the environment.

Chianti is of course known for good wine and the clean air will give you an appetite for it: all a perfect excuse to use pedal-power to get you from winery to winery, sampling some local foods of this amazing area as you go.

WALKING
Should you feel the need for adventure, to be in nature, and enjoy a good trek around Chianti, we have set up a series of walking routes from Capovento.

This is a free service and you can make use of a detailed map of all the routes as well as information on distances, altitude, durations, and levels of difficulty. All can be followed through GPS using Google maps on your smartphone.

CHIANTI WINE TOUR
We don’t make our own wine here, but we can certainly recommend the best winery experiences around Chianti Classico, all of which can be reached on foot or by e-bike.

If you don’t feel like going anywhere, you can book our “Wine Tasting in Capovento”. This is a tasting of 5 local Chianti Classico wines, with a plate of Tuscan salami, ham, and cheese and our must-have “bread with oil and tomato”, to taste our own organic oil. We’ll also give you a short lesson on the Chianti Classico classification.

The “Wine Tasting in Capovento” is always available between 11:00 am and 10:00 pm, so it could also work for lunch or dinner.

Tuscany has its own version of Route 66. Perhaps a little smaller in scale, but just as legendary, full of adventure, and fabulous landscapes. It’s the regional road 222, known as the Via Chiantigiana, the preferred route for bikers, cyclists, and all other road trippers visiting Chiantishire.

The preferred nectar of the god Bacchus is the natural symbol of this region, and the common unifier of all the villages of these hills, across the vineyards and many different wineries.

It’s no coincidence that the Chianti Gallo Nero consortium is headquartered in Radda in Chianti, in the heart of the wine region traversed by the ancient Via Chiantigiana.

GUELPHS & GHIBELLINES
Chiantishire, as the region is known to the many English who like to visit, is not just home to DOCG wine. Chianti is all warm tones and curvy natural landscapes, its hills and carved-out medieval villages full of stories and legends.

Each has its own magnificent piazza, whose crenellated towers echo the glories of the centuries-long historic feuds between the two main Tuscan factions, the Guelphs and the Ghibellines.

CASTELLINA IN CHIANTI
Walk along Via delle Volte, a typical arch-covered street, and you can admire parts of the medieval walls of Castellina in Chianti.

Among the symbolic places that defined the historical fights that determined the boundaries of Florence, Siena, and Arezzo, the 15th-century fortress will amaze you with Etruscan remains found perfectly conserved inside, where a monumental bronze bas-relief covers the ceiling.

From the towers of the fortress you can capture one of the most amazing panoramic views of the hills and valleys of Chianti.

ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM 
A visit to the fortress of Castellina, bastion of the Florentine republic in the historic fight against the Sienese, is included with the entrance ticket to the Archaeological Museum of the Sienese Chianti, whose rooms tell the history of Chianti through precious documents and archaeological finds from the territories of the main areas of the Sienese side of the region.

RADDA & GAIOLE IN CHIANTI
Following a panoramic route that branches off to the east from Via Chiantigiana you can visit Radda, home to the Chianti Gallo Nero consortium, and Gaiole in Chianti. Among the many fortresses in this area, the magnificent Castle of Brolio really stands out.

This is one of the oldest in Italy and the one most disputed by the factions of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, as a strategic defense point between Florence and Siena. Make the most of the renowned wine cellars inside the castle walls to taste the fine wines of this area.

PANZANO IN CHIANTI
Continuing north along the Via Chiantigiana, you can take a break at Panzano in Chianti, a medieval town which was an important 12th century bastion defending Florence, and the Romanesque church of San Leolino, built in 982.

GREVE IN CHIANTI
Crossing the river Greve, the town of Greve in Chianti is another strategic stop for wine tasting, its postcard-pretty triangular main piazza lined with porticoes. You can also delight your senses with the craft shops, wine bars, restaurants, and renowned butcher shops which maintain strong traditions of curing and preparing hams and salamis.

MONTEFIORALLE
When Greve in Chianti was no more than just a market, the wonderful little town of Montefioralle, which overlooks the same valley, was one of the main urban centers of the region.

Even Amerigo Vespucci lived there and loved to walk the steep and busy streets that through thick vines and olive groves connect the town with the Greve market.

VERRAZZANO CASTLE
Your Chianti tour must include a stop at the castle of Verrazzano, close to Greve. Of Etruscan origin, the fortress takes its name from the great explorer whose family lived here from the seventh century. It sits at the top of a hill, 348 meters above sea level, in a privileged position to enjoy the entire Greve valley.

CHIANTI LIVING 
The Chianti region is full of life, with many types of activity for discovering the territory, its history, and ancient traditions.

Enjoying the area is inextricably linked to the road. The journey through Chianti is in itself an attraction, because it allows you to live and breathe the scenic beauty of this region, whose heritage is unique in the world.

CHIANTI JEEP SAFARI
What better way to explore the Tuscan countryside than by vintage jeep. The Chianti Safari is an organized tour that includes a guided tour to wineries, with a picnic to taste the local food and wine.

VESPA TOUR OF CHIANTI
Less typically country than a 4×4, but very Italian: a tour of Chianti by Vespa. The most famous two-wheeled vehicle made in Italy is ideal for enjoying the most beautiful vineyards, wineries, farms, and towns of the region.

CHIANTI BY HOT AIR BALLOON
For a different experience of Chianti – see it from the air. If you love to fly and are curious to see the area from a different perspective, a hot-air balloon trip is for you.

Be enchanted by the golden curves of the Tuscan hills crisscrossed by vines and dotted with olive groves, and be amazed by the number of stone-towered towns that were once the bastions of the historic feuds between Siena and Florence.

TUSCAN COOKING CLASS
Feeling a bit hungry? Well, you’re in the right place at the right time: Chianti is a center of food and wine traditions handed down over the centuries, and today these traditions are more than ever part of the menus and tastings you can sample at the wineries and farms of the region.

If you want to discover how to make the perfect ribollita or learn the tastiest Tuscan recipes, this is a great opportunity to try your hand at one of the many cooking classes in the area.

Are you ready for a journey to discover your new passions? Ask Ettore and Stella for advice on the best offers for your activities in Chianti.

Rooms: 6

Price: from 278 EUR per night

Source: www.capovento.it