Newsletter January 2024

Dear friends of Casanuova,

An eventful year has come to an end, a new one has begun with no less moving events, Wars that we didn’t want, natural disasters that we helped cause and inequality in the distribution of wealth that we feel powerless to fight.

At Casanuova we don’t ignore the problems, but try to act on a small scale creating a peaceful oasis that enables respectful human interaction and cultural exchange.
Of great importance is the care of the nature that surrounds us and the production of valuable, nutritious products on our land, which we discovered and settled more than 40 years ago.
Many of you who keep returning to Casanuova know and appreciate this and we are very grateful for that.

At the heart of what we do at Casanuova is quality
This is expressed in our wine and olive oil as well as in all the products we offer our guests. This does not happen on its own, but comes about through great human and personal commitment. A lot of manual work is necessary to work the soil, plant the crops, care for them, harvest them and process them in order to be able to offer pure products to our guests. All of this under increasingly difficult climatic conditions. That has its price!

From the fields

The year 2023 was a problematic one: persistent rain until June favored the fungal infection in the vines and required more frequent interventions than usual, strong heat in the summer caused the olives to suffer. Nevertheless, although we achieved less in terms of quantity, we achieved very good results in terms of quality: Vermentino, Guardabuoi, Altoreggi and Rosso are ageing in the cellar.
Our first vineyard “Tilino”, which Thierry planted in 1988, needs to be replanted by Thilo and his employees with vines that were produces by grafting the old vines onto new rootstocks, in order to preserve the genetics.
Wines of various vintages and olive oil from the 2023 harvest are still available. You can order them on our shop online.

From the vegetable garden

It thrives and becomes more beautiful and productive every year. A rich selection of vegetables and salads, which our kitchen creatively processes, as well as lush flowers delight our guests. Even now we eat what the garden offers: cabbage, beetroot, salads in all variations.
This year’s sowing for the greenhouse will start pretty soon.

Numerous colourfull parties have taken place in the garden, painting and pottery courses also found a suitable setting and many guests took advantage of the place to relax with a good book.

From the kitchen

Right now it’s lemon and orange season, so we are making jam for the season. A lot of work, but the effort is worth it. Just think of our semifreddo made from lemon or orange and the jam at the breakfast buffet.
A tip comes to mind: don’t throw away organic orange peels, but use them in many ways, dried as an addition to herbal tea, ground to season dishes, caramelized for cakes and desserts. Nothing ends up in the trash can!

Some renovations

Work was also done in and around the house. The red hall has received new insulation; the earth from the lemon terrace was dug up and everything was filled in again – as if nothing had happened. Now we are in the process of re-covering the roof, which was also urgently needed, as some of you will remember. New plans to improve the swimming pond are on the horizon.

We are starting the new season with our proven team and a new help in the kitchen and we are excited to see what new impulses she will bring in.
There will also be some new faces in the restaurant and room service, Casanuova is getting younger, but we, “the old ones” are still here.

We are looking forward to a good season, but we still have vacancies, so you can check out our offers on the website and book a relaxing holiday with us. In April from the 6th to the 13th and from the 20th to the 27th we have a particularly attractive offer, that you can read here. 
And if you have other plans this year, enjoy a bottle of wine from our range or a “fettunta” with the wonderful extra virgin olive oil from our hills. You can visit our shop online page here.

Hoping to see you again, we send warm greetings and wishes for a fulfilled, happy year 2024

Ulla, Thierry and Thilo Besançon and Barbara