Hunting for Truffles in Chianti! With Dogs!

What a surprisingly good time this was!! And good weather too—the best of this trip so far!

I traveled with 5 other people (all of whom know each other, but we’re still friendly and welcoming to me) to a 1,000-year-old farmhouse in Chianti, where the owners grow grapes and olives, make wine and olive oil, and hunt for truffles! We met their 3 adorable and super friendly dogs (Bia, Bilo, and Cica), learned about truffles from these licensed, professional truffle hunters, then went out into the forest. It was a beautiful walk, mostly at the edge between the olive trees and the forest. The dogs were on leashes, but were SO excited to be going out for this. And I had the Uber important job of carrying the harvest bag!

And we got truffles!! Only 3 or 4 of the rare white truffle, but maybe 12-15 of the tasty black truffles. Honestly, I had never tasted truffles before, and it seemed I was their first guest who was new to it!

After the successful hunt, we returned to the farmhouse to a delicious lunch of bruschetta, cheese, vegetables, pasta with parmigiana and shaved truffles, and lots of wine, which they make there. They also had olive oil that they’ve made and bottled, and we had The Best Tiramisù for dessert. So light and delicious. Very unlike what we get in the US.

It was really a unique and very fun time!

Also, while we were out in the field, we came upon this 500-year-old shrine that had been recently renovated and repainted. So charming!