TOASTED TONDA GENTILE HAZELNUT

The producer

Innovation, sustainability and the best of organic products… meet the tradition of the past!

Francesco’s story is closely connected to his land, the splendid Alta Langa Cuneese. We are in the tiny hamlet of Lovera, which has fourteen inhabitants (soon to be fifteen, work in progress, it seems that a stork has flown over the Langhe…), while there are less than a hundred inhabitants in the entire municipality of Bonvicino.

The tradition of the farm has ancient roots, Francesco’s grandfather already cultivated and lived off the fruits coming from that land. It was the classic farmstead dedicated to agriculture, the traditional one with cereal fields, vegetable gardens and orchards, as in all the rural areas of the Piedmontese countryside. In 1992, the family decided to transform the business into an organic farming, an activity that was certainly more intriguing and profitable, but also more difficult. A challenge that suited the area in which the property is located, the soils are perfect, indigenous and of varying composition and their soil is excellent for this type of cultivation. Fortunately, thanks to the family’s long agricultural tradition, the land has been worked for centuries to bear fruit, always with passion and dedication to preserve and improve its natural fertility.

At La Ghiandaia, we always care for the conservation of the land and its preservation, in fact, there are many ancient native varieties of cereals that are rediscovered and cultivated here with the aim of bringing the genuine and authentic flavours of the past, back into the homes of today’s and tomorrow’s families. Among these products, for example, we find ‘Ottofile maize flour’, a variety of grain excellent for ‘polenta’ which has almost disappeared due to the mass farming and large-scale production of American origin.

The property is a traditional courtyard-style stone farmstead, set in a beautiful valley, framed by green fields and vast expanses of hazelnut groves, but not just any hazelnuts: this is the famous ‘Nocciola Tonda Gentile d’Alta Langa PGI’, the queen of the Langhe, quoted on the Stock Market equally to a precious metal. In addition to the direct cultivation of the products on-site, which allows an extremely controlled, guaranteed and 0-km production chain, the company is equipped with milling machines for crushing grain into flour, like those of the past, with stone and wooden structures. This gives the small industrial workshop a rustic and elegant look. Inside, everything is perfectly tidy, clean and as white as the flour, almost like a fairy-tale. This painstaking attention to detail in production guarantees an authentic flavour and look to the products. The ancient technique of stone milling is the only one that preserves the best properties of the wheat.

With all this ‘tradition talk’, one might imagine a scenario devoid of innovation. However, La Ghiandaia still amazes us from this point of view as well. An important aspect that Francesco focuses on is respect for the territory, not only for preserving the varieties of local products but also the environment. At La Ghiandaia Organic Farm, everything is eco-sustainable, thanks to a modern and advanced photovoltaic system that uses every ray of sunlight that kisses this beautiful valley every day. Everything is powered by this completely green energy, ensuring that all the farm’s processes have zero CO2 emissions. Passion, dedication and love for one’s land and for nature always pay off!