Cristiano Savini will be the guide of this special report. 

Today’s mission is the research of truffles in Tuscany. To be more precise, we are in the province of Pisa, in a green area that stretches from the inland of Tuscany to the hills of Chianti. It’s called Boscone di Forcoli, it’s an enchanting and silent wood where you won’t find many tourists.
Get on your boots and a pair of comfortable trousers, and you will be ready to enter this magic place with Cristiano, Luca, an expert truffle seller and Giotto, the uncontested four-legged star of the company.

The Job of the Truffle Hunter.

To better know Cristiano Savini and his job, first of all he tells us that he knows this wood by heart, and that in 2007 he found exactly here, a white truffle that incredibly weighted 1.450 Kg.
When he doesn’t travel by reason of work, he wakes up at 3 at night, as well as the 650 truffle sellers who have joined his family-run business, well known all over the world.

He goes on saying that the first one who understood the value of this special but underestimated tuber was his grandfather Zelindo, in the 60s. He used to wander on a Vespa, which their grandchildren still treasure, looking for the truffles-diggers of his town but soon he started to travel in the direction of Milan and the Piemonte region with his beloved tubers and the commerce of truffles finally becomes his own job.
Savini tells us that the White truffle, Bianco is typical of winter; then in March we find the so called Bianchetto (or marzuolo) and finally we have the Black one, called Nero Liscio and the Scorzone. It clearly means that we can find fresh truffles all the year and that, by reservation, we can try an amazing truffle experience like this one.
In fact, while we move forward, many treasures of the wood, if we can call the truffles like that, comes out with their inebriating fragrances that changes according to the type of ground where they’re hidden.
The fragrances are very strong and intense and they have the power of transporting you through space and time.

As we said before, Giotto is the protagonist of this research of truffles and it’s a crossbred, but Cristiano explains us that the perfect breed for this job is the Lagotto Romagnolo. However, what’s really important is to personally train and educate the dog, so every dog with short paws, great musculature and a pronounced nose will be perfect.
Furthermore, it’s essential to remember that for them it’s not a job but just a game!

Once we’re back we discover that seven companies are there to spend a day of sharing; and they’re not there by chance; they are seven producers, precisely Forcoli, Ursini, Biscottificio MatteiDeseo, Pasta Mancini, Il Borgo del Balsamico, La Via del Tè, La Nicchia di Pantelleria who, together with Salvini Tartufi, have created a group of Unique friends producers who have two main targets in common: the high quality of the products and the novelty of the image.

Truffle hunting Experiences in Italy For you too.

Experiences like this makes you understand that we’re blessed to be in Italy. If you are looking for a truffle hunting experience in Italy you can also have a look at this page. Contact us if you would like to arrange a truffle hunting experience during your stay in Florence or Sienna.