Eat experimental ice cream – Gelateria Castellina

Experimentation with curious flavours is the way to foodies’ hearts in the region’s best ice-cream shop. Gelateria Castellina is run by Simone, a passionate foodie with a creative touch. For over twenty years Simone has been making ice-cream, pasteurising, churning and blast freezing, with interested onlookers watching him concoct the day’s ices in his show kitchen. The welcome by Simone and Chiara is the friendliest ever. The couple also make semifreddi cold desserts or semi-frozen ice cream cakes. As for the ice cream, flavours range from ricotta and fig to chilli and chocolate, raspberry and rosemary, lemon and kiwi fruit, or coffee and dark chocolate. If you prefer water ices, then choose sorbets concocted from lemon and sage or lime and basil. The strangest creation ever was probably the anchovy and spring onion sorbet, which wouldn’t be for all tastes. Simone’s favourite creation? “That would be cantuccini and Vin Santo: almond biscuits with sweet Tuscan wine.” There’s no escaping wine in the Chianti so just give in and eat up.

After your ice cream, walk off the calories by exploring Castellina’s warren of backstreets. In particular, stroll down via delle Volte, an 800-metre-long stone-vaulted passageway built into the side of the hill. Apparently, this moody alley was created to permit horsemen to do the circuit of the fortress on horseback. Today the arched alley is home to small boutiques and cafes. From the window slits pierced in the outer you can admire the sheer drop and glimpse the Chianti countryside beyond.

Address: Via IV Novembre 47
53011
Castellina in Chianti
Tel: 0577 741337
Web: https://www.gelateriadicastellina.it/