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High times in Umbria

Sarah Fitzpatrick shoots boar, rides, makes gnocchi and guzzles pasta on the beautiful Reschio estate.

Photographs by Laurence Squire

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THE art of the Renaissance has fixed an image of the Italian landscape as a bucolic idyll. We visualise it punctuated by pic-turesque ruins, vines and olive

groves, perhaps with a noble horse or some browsing game giving life to the scene; a land that time forgot. For a long time rural Tuscany, and especially Umbria, was a land the econ-omy forgot, too, which has preserved its unique character in reality as well as oils.

A healthy dose of NIMBYism with added vision has seen Titian get a five-star make-over at Castello di Reschio. Conte Antonio Bolza bought the parish house of San Martino with two acres as a holiday home but as his son, Conte Benedikt, will attest, “It gets to you being here, you don’t want to leave.”

A small, ruined farmhouse on the edge of the property posed a risk of development and rather close neighbours so Conte Antonio made unsuccessful annual petitions to buy the plot until, in 1994, he was given the opportu-nity to buy the whole Reschio estate, some 3,000 acres on the border of Tuscany and Umbria. It’s rather an extreme way of keeping local development under control but one that seems to be benefitting the wider communi-ties and, indeed, those of us who are lucky enough to stay there.

A hunting reserve of around 2,000 acres is managed for Conte Antonio by Guenther Mittenzwei and supports a tantalising array of flora and fauna, appropriate for the region that St Francis called home. Game cover for pheasants and partridges is maintained over

around 50 acres but gamebirds and hare go unmolested here. The strong fallow deer and wild boar populations are actively managed with a handful of driven days in season as well as culling from hides. In three days on the estate, riding and walking, we saw a wondrous variety but a return visit will be necessary to tick porcupines and wolves off the list. Riding the estate with Conte Antonio one sees it to its full advantage and understands the intention to bring Reschio into the 21st century like a fresco being cleaned rather than painted over.

The medieval mezzadria system of an estate being tenanted as small farms has left the land dotted with 50 delightful stone buildings at discreet distances from each other. Each smallholding had a small farmhouse to accommodate livestock on the ground floor and the family above – the original method of

underfloor heating – and probably a separate building for storing crops, drying tobacco or making wine. Long abandoned, they have been overgrown, developing fetching internal arbours, undoubtedly artistic but slowly being reabsorbed by the landscape. Almost half of these have been restored over the past 20 years for private clients and another 10 will be made available as development projects for private buyers. The offering is un-usual and appealing.

Conveniently, Conte Benedikt is an archi-tect. He was still at university when his father bought the estate but now lives in one of the former ruins himself as he designs and man-ages the transformation of the remaining buildings. Using local artisans and keeping a permanent staff employed with renovation, maintenance and the production of a range

High times in Umbria

Guenther Mittenzwei’s Bavarian mountain hound (below and far left) is, with his master, a quiet presence, observing and managing the wildlife and game on the Reschio estate

The writer in a hide with Guenther Mittenzwei (left); readying her rifle (above); and leaving the hide (above, centre) at Reschio (right)

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of stylish furniture and fittings, he is firmly of the belief that “Italians are so flexible and cre-ative”. Making light and modern homes of dark Tuscan farmhouses is a challenge Benedikt relishes. That father and son are per-manently resident gives one confidence that no part of the development will be allowed to spoil the charm of the estate as a whole.

Neither would consider leaving. Conte Benedikt has clearly fallen in love with the estate, which he describes as “very romantic”. Ideal, in fact, for raising a family with his muralist wife, Nencia. Conte Antonio, too, is tied to the landscape. He has finally created a

permanent home for the family having left Hungary in 1949 as a five-year-old refugee. The family’s ancestors had left Italy in the late 1600s to be bankers and officers in the court of Vienna and now the Bolzas have returned to their ancient roots and settled.

This new home is managed to a tee while maintaining its wild peripheries. Olive groves, some trees hundreds of years old, have been reclaimed from scrub; winding stone tracks connect the houses with the main hub of the estate. Beside grand stables, the impressive outdoor school is overlooked by a luxurious, tented viewing platform. Here, residents and guests are invited for drinks and to watch a dressage display on balmy Monday evenings. There are ponies for younger riders and local children may perform equestrian vaulting to further delight the audience. A stone’s throw away is the estate’s private osteria, serving residents and estate guests exclusively and warmed by a large open fire on cool evenings.

The kitchen caters to any residents not keen on creating their own delicacies as well as providing a cookery school for those who would like to learn. The chef, Marco Pellegrini, was generous with his expertise and shared his secrets for producing perfect pasta and gnocchi. Red mountain potatoes, less flour than most recipes advise, a little parmesan and combining the ingredients of the gnocchi when the potatoes are still piping hot will give the best results, he advises. It must be true be-cause having spent a flour-covered morning with him cutting tagliatelli, pinching tortellini and forming the fluffy potato dumplings, we managed to plough through three courses of the above for lunch without drawing breath.

A factor in surviving what could otherwise have been death by pasta was early mornings spent with Mittenzwei hunting boar. There is limited driven shooting available in season and further shooting is offered culling boar from hides. Creeping into position as the sun rose and mist hung around the trees and val-leys was a beautiful experience and the boar did not disappoint. Soon a sow came out to feed, attended by her stripy piglets, the little humbugs dashing from cover to mill about her before retreating to the shade. One got in the way of a particularly tasty morsel and his mother tossed him lightly with her snout, sending the piglet somersaulting before he bounced up and rejoined his siblings. We

The boar did not disappoint. Soon a sow came out, attended by her stripy piglets

Ready to go (above left). The writer (above) reluctant to shoot the piglets (right, centre top); hacking with Conte Antonio (above right); heading home with Guenther Mittenzwei (below right)

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agreed that the piglets would be delicious but I found myself reluctant to pull the trigger.

Putting thoughts of roast suckling pig aside there is an array of nature to enjoy from Reschio’s hides. Perched up a tree at evening we detected a rustle of spring leaves that pres-aged a buck high-stepping into the open. While waiting in hopes of boar Mittenzwei pointed out their paths and wallows. “The boar learn quickly so you must change your behaviour,” he explained. “They know me better than I know myself.” He and his dogs are a quiet presence observing and managing them. A fascinated observer of the natural world, he described a wolf and boar passing each other, just 20 metres apart and showing a mutual lack of interest.

A shootable boar stepping between the trees made me glad of the well-built hide with a good bar on which to take aim in failing light. The boar presented a good shot. As it fell Mittenzwei’s delight at a successful conclusion was palpable while we sat in silence to be sure of the kill. It was not a big beast but a good cull animal and the ceremony and respect afforded it was worthy of a trophy boar. The “last bite” was placed in its mouth and a branch given for my hat as we exchanged his German hunter’s salutation – Waidmanns heil, Waidmanns dank.

Conte Antonio, a devoted horseman, estab-lished a stud of purebred Andalusians in 1999, importing the foundation mares and stallions from Seville. Four or five foals are bred per year and the young stock is trained gently by Antonello Radicchi using his own Tecnica Etologica method. A four-year-old, only just in serious training, could achieve shoulder-in, flying changes and the beginnings of a large Spanish walk while looking happy in his work. All this with one rein on the noseband

and the other on a snaffle. Dressage lessons are available for all standards as well as exten-sive hacking on the estate – and it is a stunning environment in which to ride. Before hacking out I got to know my mount in the outdoor school. This warm-up ended with what will doubtless remain my best and most glamor-ous coffee break. Sitting on a well-schooled grey mare in a beautifully appointed manège, I sipped espresso under a cloudless sky.

The Conte, who cuts a dashing figure on his white stallion, told of meeting a she-wolf with two cubs in broad daylight while hacking; apparently, after a brief eyeballing, all parties retired quietly with honour intact.

This anecdote illustrates something of Reschio’s otherworldliness. On leaving, one wonders whether it was real. Wisteria cascad-ing over a Nic Fiddian Green sculpture, a clas-sic sports car parked by the Spanish-style stables, candy-striped signposts and a quiet perfection combine to make one think it was all a dream inspired by a beautiful painting. Weekly rentals at Castello Reschio start at ¤6,035 for a farmhouse for two. For further details, call 00 39 075 844 362 or visit www.reschio.com.

Chef Marco Pellegrini (above); his osteria (far right); and a Nic Fiddian Green sculpture (below right)