6-NIGHT BAKING RETREAT AT THE CASTELLO DI POTENTINO

Autumn 2024  Sunday 20th to Saturday 26th October 2024 (SOLD OUT - waiting list only)

Spring 2025    Saturday 3rd May to Friday 9th May 2025

Autumn 2025  Friday 24th to Thursday 30th October 2025

photograph by Ash Nayler // ashnayler.com

We are delighted to have been invited back to the Castello di Potentino in Tuscany to run a 6 night Baking & Culinary Retreat in both Spring and Autumn 2024. 

In October, on the sunny hillsides, the olives will be in full harvest - we'll await the first pressings with eager anticipation - and the grape harvest will just be in, with enough on the vines left for us to enjoy. We'll bask in warm days and cool evenings under some of the brightest, starriest skies you will have seen.

In May, the hillsides will be lush and verdant - the best time of year for making the local cheese as the grazing sheep produce the richest milk. This will produce the finest local pecorino and ricotta. The grounds will be full of young tender plants to forage and bring back to the castle kitchen and the days will be filled with the sound of birdsong. We hope to be there as the nightingales return from their over-wintering in more temperate climes and add their voices to the chorus.

The castello is a magical place, tucked away in the southern Tuscan Hills, surrounded by vines and olive groves. This beautiful castle creaks with history and we are privileged to share its ancient halls and surroundings for a short while. 

​We will be immersing ourselves in Tuscan traditions, both ancient and modern. Alongside a wonderful array of Italian baking and bread-making, we will spend our days exploring the local area and its wonderful producers. There will be wine tasting, olive oil tasting, cheesemaking… And we will bake and break bread together!

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Daily breadmaking and baking workshops with Helen in the castle kitchen including sourdough from the live culture we will grow from Potentino's very own terroir;

Excursions to a local mill growing heritage Italian grains, where we will take lunch and then visit the nearby idyllic hilltop village and hot springs where you can swim;

Tasting of Castello di Potentino's wines, with winemaker Charlotte Horton; 

Olive oil, cheese and salumi tastings; 

Making ricotta and pecorino with Luisa, the castle's cheesemaker using milk from the sheep grazing the hills around the castle.

Pasta making masterclass with local artisan

Prices include all excursions, full board and wine throughout your stay.
​Prices exclude flights and transfers.

You can see the full programme and explore the stunning castello and its surroundings by clicking on the link to find out more. Remember all prices are in Euros not Pounds Sterling. Full T's & C's at Potentino.com, available on booking.

White Cottage is an artisan bread and baking school run by award-winning sourdough baker Helen Underwood.
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