Antica Macelleria Norcineria Marianelli

The small medieval village of Montopoli in Val d'Arno, is home of one of the oldest and most traditional butchery in Tuscany. 

Antica Macelleria Norcineria Marianelli celebrated this year one hundred years in business. It was founded in 1910 by the Marianelli family, today Luca Marianelli and his sons still running this Tuscan jewel.

This butcher shop is a Norcineria, which specialize in pork meat. It is also one of the numerous "food heaven" that Italy has to offer. 

Three of their products have won a Slow Food special award in the category food biodiversity.

My favorite is the ancient Nodino of Montopoli, the other two are the Stradivario ham, aged in ashes and the Costolaccio pancetta, aged in local wine.

The ancient Nodino is a traditional salumi from the village of Montopoli, recipe dates back to the middle age. Today the Marianelli family carries on the tradition using only local spices, exposing it to tramontana wind and then, slow aging it in tufa cellars.

The village of Montopoli Val d'Arno is located in the province of Pisa, halfway between Pisa and Florence. 

Get to know Luca and his family; masters Norcini for five generations. For any questions please write me an e-mail; tours@utuscany.com

Ciao, 

Gianni.

Thanks everyone for a great 2010 season!

I just want to thank all of our guests that join us on our 2010 tours and all of our fans. Without all of you I could not realize my dream of doing what I love.

This past September has been a great in Tuscany, very few rainy days, and temperatures were comfortable throughout the whole month.
This year we have had three groups for a total of twenty wonderful guests. The photo was shot at Capanne, my hometown's Gelateria, owned by Giovanni Zappolini also simply known as "Corbellini".

Giovanni used owned a stationery shop for years in the small village of Capanne but he always had a deep passion for food and hospitality. Couple of years ago, he decided to turn his store in a gelateria, investing large amount of money and lots of sacrifices. Today is still running it by himself, making traditional Tuscan gelato from scratch.

We will be soon releasing dates for our 2011 tours. We are going to have new activities, brand new upgraded locations and new towns to explore. 

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Join us, the trip of a lifetime awaits you!

Gianni