Reductiveness (reducing things to their elements) is a fundamental concept in good design and it’s also something understood by artists and writers. Coco Chanel remains one of fashion’s most iconic figures because she knew simple and timeless elegance could be achieved only through reductive thinking. “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and…

Between what we get from the property and our hunter friends who supply us with more we have a lot of game at Petraia. That’s why it wasn’t until recently I finally made the pilgrimage to this legendary place to eat it. I’d been hearing about Il Baracchino for years. The trattoria is just outside the small mountain…

Petraia is famous for its game and a good percentage of the meat we consume is wild boar from the property. Hunters often arrive at my kitchen bearing generous gifts of a whole boar or deer. If we’re really lucky we might even get a hare. At first I used to dread hunting season. I’d been a…

A lot.  Our restaurant and guest rooms are closed this year but still we’ve been busy with wine tastings and the introduction of our long awaited red wine to the world.  Since we pair each of our wines with a small taste, I’m working every day in the kitchen. Then there is the vegetable garden, the vineyards…

Since we bought Petraia we’ve planted lots of other plum trees. In our frutteto there are biricoccolo, suregio, susincocco, Paviot, Claudina, Sorriso di Primavera, Mascina, Santa Rosa and Mirabella plum trees. Every other year they fruit abundantly, producing sweet, succulent plums. But we only get to enjoy this fruit if we can manage to pick it…

The biggest highlight of our trip was seeing so many real cows with horns grazing contentedly in their high summer pastures.  Cows, essential creatures for the perfect implementation of  biodynamic agriculture have long been a fascination for us.   This photo essay by Michael gives credence to the majesty of these beautiful beasts and also perhaps a glimpse…

It’s long been a dream of ours to traverse the alps on this famous route. The road was built in the first part of the last century so early motor car enthusiasts could drive across the highest passes in the French alps, from Lake Leman to Nice. This year, to celebrate Michael’s birthday, we finally made it…