Territory
Val d'Elsa typical products: a territory to discover at the table
The Val d'Elsa is one of the most gastronomically rich territories in Tuscany. The typical products, wines, producers and where to taste them.
The Val d’Elsa: a border territory between Siena and Florence
The Val d’Elsa is one of the most history-rich and culturally significant geographical corridors in Tuscany - a valley extending some 60 km from the Montagnola Senese northward to the hills of the Lower Arno Valley. The Elsa, the river that runs through it, is small and almost always quiet, but its banks were for centuries one of the most frequented trade routes of medieval Tuscany.
The Via Francigena - the pilgrims’ road connecting Canterbury to Rome - crossed the Val d’Elsa passing through Poggibonsi, Colle Val d’Elsa, San Gimignano, Certaldo. This continuous flow of pilgrims, merchants and diplomats brought to the valley a circulation of ideas and products that profoundly influenced its material culture, including its cuisine.
From a gastronomic point of view, the Val d’Elsa is a border zone - literally, between the province of Florence to the north and that of Siena to the south. This position produces a hybrid but coherent cuisine: the pici and pecorino of the Sienese tradition coexist with the bistecca and chicken livers of the Florentine tradition, and everything is accompanied by wines from three distinct denominations.
The wines: Vernaccia, Chianti Colli Senesi, Chianti Classico
No other Tuscan valley of the same size has the presence of three wine denominations of this calibre within its immediate radius.
Vernaccia di San Gimignano is the most visible - the towers of San Gimignano can be seen from the motorway, and the association between the medieval city and its wine is immediate. Vernaccia is the quintessential territorial white wine in the Val d’Elsa - fresh, savoury, with a bitter finish that makes it versatile with fish dishes and fresh cheeses.
Chianti Classico touches the Val d’Elsa to the east - the Poggibonsi and Castelnuovo Berardenga area lies at the southern boundary of the denomination. The Chianti Classico from the hills around the Val d’Elsa has slightly different characteristics from that of the more central zone (around Greve and Radda) - warmer, softer in tannins, with riper fruit.
Chianti Colli Senesi is the denomination surrounding much of the Val d’Elsa. Less structured than the Classico, more immediate and accessible, it is the everyday wine of the area - the one you find in fiaschi in the tratttorie, drunk fresh as an aperitivo, accompanying the simpler dishes of local cooking.
The oil: one of the oldest DOP denominations in Tuscany
The hills of the Val d’Elsa produce an extra-virgin olive oil of excellent quality. The olive varieties cultivated are mainly Frantoio, Moraiolo and Leccino - the same that characterise Tuscan oil throughout the region, but with a slightly different profile in the hills of this specific area.
The oil from the hills between Poggibonsi and San Gimignano is green and fruity, with a present but not excessive spiciness. Pressing takes place in local mills between the end of October and November - the period of traditional harvesting, the one that produces the new oil that smells of chlorophyll.
Val d’Elsa oil falls under the Chianti Classico DOP (for areas within the denomination) and the Terre di Siena DOP (for the southern areas). Both guarantee the provenance and quality of the product.
The cheeses: Pecorino and local production
The dairy tradition of the Val d’Elsa is typical of Sienese Tuscany - predominantly sheep’s milk cheeses, with some cow’s milk production in the areas closest to the Arno Valley.
The Pecorino Toscano DOP produced in the area is mainly fresh and semi-aged - the Val d’Elsa tradition is not that of the long maturings of the Val d’Orcia, but that of cheeses eaten relatively young, with honey or with jam.
In the mountain areas of the Chianti there are some productions of mixed milk cheese (sheep and goat) with interesting local characteristics - not protected by denomination but with a recognisable territorial identity.
The cured meats: from the traditional norcineria
The norcineria of the Val d’Elsa follows the Sienese tradition - finocchiona, Tuscan salami, Tuscan prosciutto, lard flavoured with the herbs of the territory.
Some artisan butcheries in the area produce Cinta Senese cured meats - the native Tuscan pig breed whose aromatic characteristics cannot be replicated with ordinary pork. Cinta Senese finocchiona in particular is a product of the highest quality.
Aged guanciale - cured and spiced pig’s cheek - is used in local kitchens as a base for soffritto in soups and legumes. It produces an aromatic fat different from lardo and pancetta, with a more intense note of spices.
Where to taste the products of the Val d’Elsa
Val d’Elsa products can be found at the weekly markets of villages in the area - Poggibonsi, Colle Val d’Elsa, Certaldo, San Gimignano. Each market has its regular producers - farmers and artisans who sell their production directly.
The wine shops of San Gimignano are the best place to explore Vernaccia in depth - some organise guided tastings that allow comparing different producers and vintages.
Ristorante Alcide in Poggibonsi is one of the places where products of the Val d’Elsa and surrounding territory feature consistently on the menu - the oil, wines, cheeses, cured meats, territorial meat - along with fresh Tyrrhenian fish which is the other soul of the restaurant’s cooking. It is the simplest way to get a complete panorama of the flavours of the area in a single meal.
Want to taste it for real?
At Ristorante Alcide you will find it on the table - made the right way, with fresh ingredients and the care of the Ancillotti family since 1849.
