Magical Pugliese Masseria
Overview
I have to admit I’m biased towards Puglia. I lived in the regional capital of Bari a few years back, where I met my fiancé. Being engaged to a local boy means I’ve had plenty more chances to explore the places I love in more detail and visit the few I didn’t make it to when I lived there.
What I do know is that it’s not just me: every time someone visits Puglia on my recommendation they invariably return in love with the place. Between the delicious climate (twinned with that of Napa Valley in California), the laid back feel, super friendly locals, variety of scenery and picturesque towns, and the turquoise sea. Not forgetting the food and drink: without a doubt the number one reason to hop on a flight to Bari tomorrow.
Puglia is pretty much everything from the spur to the tip of the heel of Italy’s boot. There’s plenty to go at, and I’d be doing it a disservice to clump it all in one post. So I’m going to be spending a lot of time in the region over the next few months, exploring and reporting back in detail, expanding on my already huge ‘must do’ list that I share with friends heading there on holiday, and sharing it with you lovely bunch.
It’s apt then, that the first in this series sees Aesthetic Voyager return to Masseria il Frantoio, the very first of Puglia’s fortified farmhouses that I ever visited.
It’s true I’m occasionally prone to exaggeration when enthusiastic, but sat at breakfast the morning after our stay with a table full of British and American travellers, ‘a magical experience that has to be visited to be believed’ was the universal summary from the table. Let me try to explain why, but trust me that words might not capture it, so best you go take a look for yourself.
Masseria il Frantoio’s history stretches back to the 16th century, when landowners protected their land and farmhouses from the various invaders from the Adriatic coast with huge walls and moats. What were originally designed to be all sturdy, all encompassing mini-villages, able to self produce enough to survive lengthy siege from the enemy, now offer the traveller the opportunity to visit perfectly intact history. The same walls originally designed to keep people out, now welcome us in, offering the security within the most authentic ‘holiday village’ you’re likely to visit.
Having been founded on a tradition of quality, local and seasonal food, the masseria continues the theme with it’s focus on food and fine wines that rank it within some of the best ‘agriturismos’ in Italy. The name il Frantoio represents the main trade of the masseria, which still boasts the original olive oil presses underground, and which still produces an unthinkable number of products for sampling and sale made from this ‘gold of Puglia’. Trust me, I had an olive leaf acqua vita after dinner.
The two most magical things about il Frantoio, both starting with A:
Armando, the owner. What a legend. With huge enthusiasm, linguistic skill and historical knowledge, Armando’s tour of the masseria is one of the best aspects of a stay at Masseria il Frantoio. His narration of the source of each dish served at dinner, in addition to suggested wine and oil pairings meant that dining was a very different experience to the average hotel meal. The love that he and Rosalba, his wife, have put into the masseria in the last 20 years since they stumbled across the place and bought it, is evident everywhere, in particular in the second ‘A’…
Authenticity. Save the welcome Nespresso machine in my room, not a single item in this home-hotel is feels like mass produced hotel fare. From bundles of original La Repubblica magazines, to a hand restored family tree of the original owners of the masseria, the many compartmentalised gardens restored painstakingly to their original use, to the hand made pasta and herbs, fruit and vegetables plucked from the grounds and which go into the 8 course surprise tasting menu you can choose to eat in the medieval dining hall. Even the shampoo is home produced from olive trees on the estate.
I’d risk saying this that is Puglia’s most historically intact and charming masseria that you can actually stay in.