Where: At the Castle, 40 minutes south of Lecce, just off the Adriatic sea. 

When: The second week of November each year. 

Where you sleep: At the castle. 95 Euro singles, 110 doubles. 

Course Cost: 1995 Euro.

Taught in: English.

Best way to arrive, depart, maximise your time with us: Everything is spelled out in our Student Services. You’ll be given access about booking.

Book now. Or write us for information.

San Martino al Castello

The Festival of Saint Martin held at the castle

This is an example of our week-long San Martino course held at the castle. The actual holiday is November 11th and it’s celebrated in various, isolated pockets around Europe. Here in Puglia, it just might be the most cherished holiday, large and loud and celebratory, not unlike the American Thanksgiving (sociologist will point out the agrarian origins of both, of that sweet time in the year when farmers historically moved from working hard to being able to begin to enjoy the preserved fruits of summer sweat). 

The order of the days will change based on which day falls the holiday. We take the single holiday and turn it into a celebratory week. 

Before the course begins. 

Arrive in Lecce Sunday night and stay wherever you like (our suggestions for our favourite places are in Student Services).

Lunedi

Monday

Meet us with your tagged luggage (first and surname) at Porta Napoli in Lecce at 10:00. This is when the course officially starts and everything is included in your tuition, from Monday morning to Saturday morning. You will not even need to carry a purse or wallet the entire week.

We’ll talk about Lecce’s famous yellow building stone, how it was formed by nearly a billion years of sedimentary rock and how it affects just everything here: the wine, food, climate, agriculture and architecture. 

We’ll head down to the castle, move you into your rooms, give you time to freshen up, plug in and join the WIFI (the castle has 6 wifi systems that cover all the grounds, pool area, kitchen, dinning rooms and your bedroom). 

You’ll get a tour of the castle and grounds and hear about its history and layout, making you feel instantly at home for the week. 

We’ll have an introductory talk about the local cuisine, wine, history and culture and then move over either onto the Baron’s outdoor stone loggia (weather-permitting, even in mid-November) or the castle’s main hall, for a staff prepared welcoming lunch (and the first of the week’s 13 wines). 

You’ll enjoy your first wine tasting. That will segue into a staff prepared meal (the only meal of the week that you will not cook). Like all the meals of the week, we’ll have an antipasto, fresh, hand-made pasta, a second course, 4 vegetable side dishes and un dolce ( ‘dessert’ or ‘pudding’).  Lunch runs long and the wines flow freely. 

After lunch you’ll have a break to spend time sending your pictures around the world, go for a walk in the local olive groves, read from the Baron’s multi-language library or just to nap off all the wine.

We’ll reconvene at 6pm to have a chalkboard talk— God Smiled on Us: An Introduction to an Italy You May Not Know. (This sets the tone for the week, of going deeper than you might expect,, but in a new and engaging way). 

Then ee’ll move over to discuss tonight’s dinner before we head into the kitchen to make the fresh local pasta from scratch (Italy’s healthiest). 

We’ll have a hands-on lesson (you’ll learn to make 10-14 dishes, collectively) and then head up stairs to the main hall for wine tasting of tonight’s wine, that eases into dinner. Students will take turns returning to the kitchen (with the staff) to both finish and then explain at the table the final, finishing steps.

The wine and stimulating, international conversations will flow late into the night. 

You’ll visit Silvestro’s personal amaro bar for after dinner drinks. 

Martedi

Tuesday

Breakfast in the main hall at 9 am. (Early riser? Go for morning walk, visit Salvatore at the local caffè or help yourself to coffee, tea, etc. in the castle’s main kitchen.) 

Breakfast includes fresh local pastries, fresh fruit, eggs, toast, yoghurt, cheeses and meats. Tea, juice and locally-roasted espresso.

At 10 we’ll move over to the chalkboard for Pasta, Polenta, Risotto and Old Bread: The First Courses of the Peninsula. We’ll discuss today’s lunch menu before we head down into the kitchen and make fresh pasta from scratch, then segue into a lesson on how to prepare the entire meal (as always, we’ll cook just enough to get you started but it’s you who will be cooking the entire week). 

Then we’ll move upstairs to talk about today’s lunch wine. We’ll do a guided tasting and then the food will be begin to arrive, with various students taking the opportunity to be finish a dish (with the guidance of the staff) and then explain it to those at the table. 

You’ll have a break to go for a walk in the nearby olive groves, practice your Italian with those in the village, read, scroll your device or just to nap off all the wine. 

We’ll meet again at 6 pm for Da Mieru a Vino: How Italian Wine Become Modern. We’ll discuss changes in Italian wine making and how Old World wines differ from that of the New. You’ll learn about the history of the amaro (Italian after dinner drinks) and how they aid digestion. We’ll discuss tonight’s menu and then move down into the kitchen to make a different fresh pasta from scratch (every meal a different shape). We’ll have a lesson on Mediterranean vegetables and pulses in the kitchen and how to introduce more of them into your diet. 

We’ll move upstairs for a wine tasting, both to learn about dinner’s particular wine but also how to taste more critically in general. 

Dinner will start to arrive, with each course finished and then explained by your class mates. Many corks will be liberated and we’ll go late into the night. 

A visit to Silvestro’s personal amaro bar for night caps. 

Mercoledi

Wednesday

Breakfast in the main hall at 9 am.  Breakfast will include fresh local pastries, fresh fruit, eggs, toast, yoghurt, cheeses and meats. Tea, juice and locally-roasted espresso. 

At 10 we’ll move over to the chalkboard for Kaveh to Coffee to Cafè: The Little Bean that Conquered the World. We’ll discuss Italian coffee culture, roasting.You’ll learn how to order your coffee in it Italian and we’ll head out to Salvatore’s café to practice your new skills. 

You’ll learn about today’s lunch menu before we head down into the kitchen and make fresh pasta from scratch, then segue into a lesson on vegetable cookery. We’ll prepare lunch together, using our new skills and then move upstairs to talk about today’s lunch wine. We’ll do a guided tasting and then the food will be begin to arrive, with various students taking the opportunity to be finish a dish and then explain it to the table. 

You’ll have a break to spend time in the pool (weather permitting), go for a walk, read, scroll your device or just to nap off all the wine. 

We’ll meet again at 6 pm for Gear: Knives, Pots, Pans, their Purchase and Maintenance. You’ll learn to buy the best (including knives) for the least amount of money. And how to protect your investments.  We’ll discuss our menu and then move down into the kitchen to make a different fresh pasta from scratch (every meal a different shape). We’ll have a lesson on the fresh cheeses of Puglia then prepare 10 to 15 dishes together- collectively- using those new skills to work together to assemble dinner. 

We’ll move upstairs for a wine tasting, both to learn about dinner’s particular wine but also how to taste more critically in general. 

Dinner will start to arrive, with each course finished and then explained by your class mates. You’ll finally eat your fill of burrata and your wine will pour generously. 

A visit to Silvestro’s personal amaro bar for night caps.

Giovedi

Thursday

Breakfast in the main hall at 9 am.  Breakfast will include fresh local pastries, fresh fruit, eggs, toast, yoghurt, cheeses and meats. Tea, juice and locally-roasted espresso.

At 10 we’ll move over to the chalkboard for Many Seas: A Brief History of The Mediterranean. You’ll learn about today’s lunch menu before we head down into the kitchen and make fresh pasta from scratch, then segue into a lesson on how to cook all the world’s fish employing only a handful of simple techniques. We’ll prepare lunch together, using our new skills and then move upstairs to talk about today’s lunch wine. 

We’ll do a guided tasting and then the food will be begin to arrive, with various students taking the opportunity to be finish a dish and then explain it to the table. 

You’ll have a break to spend time reading, go for a walk, scroll your device or just to nap off all the wine. 

We’ll meet again at 6 pm for The Pig: a Global Love Story. We’ll discuss our menu and then move down into the kitchen to make a different fresh pasta from scratch (every meal a different shape). We’ll have a lesson on blank and then use those new skills to work together to assemble dinner. 

We’ll move upstairs for a wine tasting, both to learn about dinner’s particular wine but also how to taste more critically in general. 

Dinner will start to arrive, with each course finished and then explained by your class mates. 

A visit to Silvestro’s personal amaro bar for night caps.

Venerdi

Friday

Breakfast in the main hall at 9 am.  Breakfast will include fresh local pastries, fresh fruit, eggs, toast, yoghurt, cheeses and meats. Tea, juice and locally-roasted espresso.

At 10 we’ll move over to the chalkboard for 1493: A history of Italian Vegetables. As today is the new the new wine comes out, we’ll also discuss high level wine making techniques, including carbonic maceration (how the Novello [Italy’s beaujoie nuevou] is made). You’ll learn why wine recently become a grocery in many parts of the world, how to store it and age it and what’s the difference. 

You’ll learn about today’s lunch menu before we head down into the kitchen and make fresh pasta from scratch, then segue into making fresh sausages from scratch. We’ll prepare lunch together, using our new skills and then move upstairs to talk about today’s lunch wine. We’ll do a guided tasting and then the food will be begin to arrive, with various students taking the opportunity to be finish a dish and then explain it to the table. 

You’ll have a break to go for a walk, prepuce your luggage, read, scroll your device or just to nap off all the wine. 

We’ll meet again at 6 pm to talk about what you’ve learned this week and to answer any questions. , then our menu and then move down into the kitchen to make a different fresh pasta from scratch

We’ll make fresh sausages from scratch and grill them over olive wood. We’ll have the first clementines of the year, the first chestnuts and eat enough to rupture internal organs. And the new wine will flow late into the evening. 

You’ll receive some departing gifts. 

Sabato

Saturday 

departure

Breakfast one last time in the Baron’s main hall. 

We’ll arrange transportation back to the Lecce train station, for either a departure headed north of Lecce, or to return for a few more days back in Lecce, one of Italy’s prettiest cities. 

About a week after your course we’ll send you a password to all of our recipes and include all the email address of the others on your course. Many if not most make life-long friendships while here. They send us many happy pictures of wine-soaked reunions, held all over the world.  

Il novello is a carbonic macerated wine, Italy’s version of Beaujolais nouveau. By law it cannot be realised until the days right before San Martino. Many producers also use the date to release their whites and pinks, linking the holiday with wine for generations. 

The castle is the epicentre of a small Italian town, four kilometers from the Adriatic sea. The castle grounds have hundreds of fruit trees, a private chapel, underground olive oil mills and enough prunings of olive and orange trees to fuel all of our grilling in the Baron’s stone fireplace. 

Castle courses tend to feel like food festivals, with each meal a loud and gregarious affair with lots of cooking, great food and rivers of wine. 

Searching for a small, intimate class, take a Lecce course. If you want to learn our food, study our wine, celebrate and rub elbows in the kitchen and around the table with people from all over the world, consider this course.

Or any other at the castle. 

Q: I’m very active and don’t like to rest during the breaks. What else is there to do at the castle?

A:  The castle has bicycles that you can borrow. And you can stroll in any of the olive groves that begin at the periphery of town. There is also the Baron’s multi-language library with books you may borrow. Or go give your Italian a workout at the local caffè.

In general, most people overestimate how much extra energy they will have during the week. Might just be all the wine. 

Q: I prefer smaller, more intimate groups. Will I be happy at the castle?

A: It doesn’t sound like it. We have 13 different courses for good reason. In our 20 year history, our biggest failures to please have been with those that have signed up for the wrong course. ‘I know this is a fish course but can I have mine with chicken’, or ‘I didn’t realise that we’d be bicycling every day’, on our bicycle course.

If you want an intimate, small group, choose a Lecce course. If you want to come together with people from all over the world united by a love of Italian food and wine, consider a castle course. 

Q: My spouse wants to bicycle but I want to attend San Martino (which doesn’t contain any bicycling). What to do?

A: Take different courses.  Plus, remember that there are only two real aphrodisiacs in life: 1) The right partner, 2) His or her absence.