Podere le Fornaci is a small goat farm in the hills of Greve in Chianti, now in its 25th year. What began as a larger operation has been deliberately scaled back. At the end of 2022, Valentina and Nicolò made the difficult decision to reduce the herd — choosing quality of life for the animals and the sustainability of the farm over scale.
Valentina and Nicolò
Two people run this farm. Valentina Gadotti, originally from Trento, has a degree in political science. She gave up an academic path to dedicate herself to the flock, the cheese dairy, and the tastings. Nicolò Campolmi is a Florentine with a degree in enology, a former IT technician turned farmer. He does the haymaking, the goat care, all the maintenance — and plays blues guitar.
The Goats and the Cheese
The farm raises Chamois Colored goats — capre camosciate — a breed known for rich, flavorful milk. Each goat is named and has its own personality. Valentina’s cheesemaking is built on listening to the milk: any change in the herd’s daily life — a scare, a dietary change, the introduction of a male — shows up in that day’s milk, and she adapts her technique accordingly.
“Milk talks, and I just had to learn to listen.”
The range spans fresh to aged: fresh goat’s cheese, flavoured varieties with herbs and flowers, bloomy rind enriched by noble molds, long-matured aged cheese, and toma — sweet, delicate, and melting when heated.
The Experience
You can visit for a cheese tasting with a tour of the goat shed. Or go deeper — the cheese laboratory starts at 8:30am in the milking shed. You participate in the milking, then follow the milk into the dairy for a full cheesemaking session. The farm kitchen, Capre e Cavoli, opens for reserved lunches and dinners: zero-kilometre menus from the vegetable garden, goat products, and a network of local farmers.
Listen to the podcast
I dedicated a podcast episode to Valentina’s story — how her love for the land took her from a master’s in Political Science in northern Italy to making cheese in the Chianti hills. Listen to “People Who Inspire Me: Valentina Gadotti” →
