In August 1991 we decided to start a new business built on our great passion: cooking. So we put our college degree in the drawer and in the footsteps of the already existing agriturismo we opened Il Paese dei Campanelli.
The name does not refer to the operetta of the same name but is the nickname that friends and relatives had given to this enchanted, fairy-tale-like place that is Petrognano. Words cannot easily be found to describe what is the landscape that surrounds the village dating back to 1200, when the city of Semifonte praised by Dante stood here.
A visit by you will not only be a pleasure for the palate, but also a thrill to find yourself in a setting of other times.
We offer you the warmth of the atmospheres in which our history sinks, we welcome you in an environment that lives of the colors and scents of our hills: we have chosen to be faithful to the landscape that surrounds us, simple but extraordinarily beautiful.
Simplicity in the service of beauty: in a few words, our style.
The village of Petrognano stretches across the green vineyard hills around the road from Barberino Val d'Elsa to Certaldo, in the heart of Chianti. It is a cluster of scattered old houses, but if we look closely we see stone towers, with elegant and finely decorated arches: town houses, with medieval towers, lost in the countryside.
The mystery is solved: Petrognano is nothing but the hamlet of a vanished town named Semifonte. Dante in the 16th canto of Paradise mentions it, meaning its valiant soldiers and shrewd craftsmen: "Fiorenza fatti in là, Semifon diven città" . The city surrounded by moats, barbacans, batiate and towers was bordered by very solid walls. Today the center no longer exists: it was razed to the ground by the Florentines in 1202.
After an epic siege and the bloody denouement of that war, the town surrendered and disappeared along with its inhabitants, who were forced into exile.
The farm is home to the ancient parish church of St. Peter, later reduced to a simple chapel. Inside it preserves the 12th-century wooden crucifix now placed in the propositura of Certaldo. Beneath the small altar is walled a stone with a noble coat of arms, a Heranic stone that probably belonged to a valiant defender of Semifonte. Even after the destruction of Semifonte, life continued in Petrognano passing under the protection of the Capponi family, 1343, which built the dome of St. Michael and the Renaissance villa in the center of the Borgo.
A Restaurant in the Heart of Chianti. Five rooms with quite different capacities and characteristics. Available to our guests is a large veranda and a garden overlooking the vineyards where tables can be set up in fine weather.
We would like to evoke with words the richness of a cuisine enhanced by the scents and colors of a generous land, a cuisine rooted in the best Tuscan tradition and enriching its nuances with the continuous search for new and ever more intense sensations.
We would like to express with the most suitable words the proud taste of our roasts together with the soft and refined character of our breadcrumb and pesto fillet... we could try to describe all this to you, but we are not writers... we manufacture flavors.
We wish we could describe the richness of our seasoned meat board as well as the intensity of the aromas of fresh porcino or truffle as superb companions to our handmade pasta.
We could try to evoke the fresh, rich taste of our artichoke cruditè with larded shrimp as well as the intense harmony of flavors of our maltagliati and shellfish skillet; we could try to tell you about the refined sweetness of our shellfish catalana...
But we prefer instead to invite you to discover all our flavors live: for you the most pleasant of surprises.
We also have a family farm, located in the heart of the Chianti region: we produce extra virgin olive oil and zero-mile Chianti wine. This year, our oil was awarded first place in the competition held by the PROLOCO BADIA A PASSIGNANO, an award that celebrates the quality and tradition of local production.
A Chianti producer for 50 years, wine is a key stop on our gastronomic itineriary.
More than 200 labels with a wide selection of wines mostly from our region, plus a careful selection of other national and international wines.
The owner Gianluca, an AIS somelier, will advise you on the best combination of wine and our dishes. Some of our direct suppliers are Antinori, Gaja, Tenuta Ornellaia, Frescobaldi, Sassicaia, Avignonesi, Bricco dell'Uccellone, Jerman, Vie de Romans, Feudi di San Gregorio.
Not to be forgotten is the vast assortment of dessert wines starting with Moscato di Pantelleria and ending with lo Chateau.
