Cheese Making and Tasting in Val d'Orcia

Discover Tuscany and the famous scenic area made of green rolling hills and hilltop towns such as Pienza, Montepulciano and little medieval hamlets in Valdorcia with this full-day cheese making and tasting class.

Your guide for the day is Anna. Anna is a trained sommelier and wine guide, with a deep passion for wine and for Tuscany. There could be no better guide!  

The Valdorcia is the southern part of Tuscany usually seen on postcards and in films: rolling hills that change colours from bright green to gold shades depending on the time of the year. It is a unique region that since 2004 is included in the UNESCO sites of Italy.

These hills are a patchwork of cultivations ranging from wheat to vineyards and olive groves and it’s not surprising to see sheep and goats grazing. Traditionally farmers here started producing sheep milk cheese (formaggio pecorino) as a necessity and for local food, however today it is also a delicacy which has been recognized as a DOP product.

Each farmer has to follow a set of rules to produce an organic, fresh cheese. This includes ageing the cheese (for 3, 9, 12 months or longer) in a traditional way to obtain unique and different flavours. This cheese is not simply to grate on your pasta but to savour as a starter or a second course and have a sensorial experience much like wine tasting.

During your tour you’ll meet the farmers, who will show you their property and explain step by step how this fabulous product is made and eventually aged. The tour will be followed by a cheese tasting which, depending on the season, will include freshly made ricotta through to medium aged samples and some special aged cheeses.  

After the tasting take a stroll around the small town of Pienza, which is well known as the first example of Renaissance architecture of the magnificent and smart Pope Pius II, descendant of the Sienese powerful family Piccolomini. Follow along the narrow alleyways where local farmers sell their cheeses and local products as well as artisans showing local ceramics, landscaping oil paintings and jewellery.

Then return to your accommodation in Florence or Siena.