Truffle Hunting in Val D'Orcia (Video)

I’m excited to share a new adventure with you today – a glimpse into the world of truffle hunting in a Tartufaia (truffle orchard) in the beautiful Val d’Orcia.

This was a brand new experience for me. I have been truffle hunting in wild oak woods, where the uneven terrain, scattered branches and the need to keep up with the dogs can turn it into quite a workout. So, walking in a tartufaia was a pleasantly relaxing change of pace.

What fascinates me most is the love and passion that people like Giancarlo pour into their work with the land. Establishing a tartufaia is fraught with risks. Even if trees are inoculated with truffle spores, there’s no guarantee they will produce any truffles.

It’s a true labor of love, dedication, and patience.

A presto!

Transcript

We are in a 4×4 Fiat Panda with Giancarlo on a very bumpy road in Val d’Orcia and we need to pick up a special passenger which is Lupo the dog. And let’s see if you can guess where we are heading.

While on the road Giancarlo showed us the vineyard and the beehives on his farm. However we aren’t here today for the wine or honey. We are here for a different reason.

We are at the bottom of the valley where these rows of pine trees have been planted and these trees have been mycorrhized with truffle spores to yield a special kind of truffle that is called marzuolo. So this is Giancarlo’s truffle orchard and hopefully the dog Lupo will find some that we can have for dinner.

And I actually can’t believe that we found one straight away! When I go truffle hunting in the oak woods it requires much more effort because it’s a wilder environment compared to an orchard, so there are branches everywhere, you have to run uphill or downhill. Here it’s a very different experience.

Meanwhile, Angela, Giancarlo’s wife, came down to the orchard to bring us this small mason jar for storing the truffles, and Lupo got so distracted by her and completely lost his focus. At that point he didn’t want to do his work anymore — but after Angela left, Lupo actually managed to find another one, a very very very tiny truffle.

And just like that our time in Giancarlo’s truffle orchard came to an end. Establishing a truffle orchard is a true labor of love and a very long-term investment that is filled with lots of uncertainty. So I feel that each truffle that we found was really a testament of his hard work, perseverance, and deep connection with the land.