WHAT TO BUY IN CARRO

Wine, honey, jams, chestnut flour, fruits of the forest, mushrooms, natural soaps, organic pasta, recycled and creatively reinterpreted objects… These are the products that can be found in the shops of Carro, Castello and in the area’s farm shops and farmstays.

 

Lying in the heart of the Ligurian bio-district, thanks to the presence of hills rich in tarsus and clay and an exceptional microclimate with cool nights and warm, breezy days, the village is an ideal place to make wine, cultivating native varieties such as Albarola, Vermentino, Ciliegiolo and allochthonous ones such as Shyraz, Merlot and Granaccia.

 

Chestnut flour, one of the products that has always represented this area, is still made in an 18th century water mill. The structure, the only one still in operation in Val di Vara, has been fully restored and is located in Travo, a side valley between Carro and Ziona.

Azienda agricola Silvia Bonfiglio

Silvia Bonfiglio's company espouses an organic philosophy and specialises in forest products, mushrooms, chestnuts, chestnut flour, honey and small fruits.

The story began in 1991, when Silvia and her husband Maurizio Canessa inherited a chestnut grove, Bosco Sepponi, with the casone secchereccio, which they restructured to restart the cultivation of native chestnuts.
In 2017, they were awarded ‘Italy’s best chestnut flour’. This led to the creation of didactic chestnut groves and the foundation of the association Castanicoltori del Levante Ligure until the purchase and renovation of an old mill, in Travo, necessary for milling chestnuts. The aim is to create a closed cycle related to the chestnut: from the grafting of the chestnut tree to harvesting, through drying, to milling and packaging the flour in the laboratory. The upper floor of the mill, once the miller’s house, will become a cultural centre, where videos and photographic material related to ancient trades can be shown.

Tel: +39 347 3108995
Website: http://www.boscosepponi.bio/
WhatsApp: +39 347 3108995

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via N. Paganini 38 – Carro

Azienda agricola Antico Frutteto di Febe

Behind the hamlet of Castello, with a view as far as the Apuane Alps, an orchard of three hundred trees has been planted, belonging to varieties cultivated in the Middle Ages with a greater capacity to resist pests and climate change..

The apple, pear, plum, cherry, apricot, peach, kaki, fig and biricoccoli trees, whose names – pomella genovese, butirra antica, damaschina estiva, lapins, pellechiella, reginella, rosso brillante, brogiotto nero – evoke ancient madrigals, are grown organically and without the use of chemicals.

Tel:+ 39 335 5642127

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Via Giannelli 58 – Castello di Carro

Azienda agricola Galeno Luca

In a place of unspoilt natural beauty, garden produce and fruit plants are cultivated, protected behind by the first chains of the Ligurian High Mountains, where the view opens onto a panorama that sweeps from the Gulf of Poets to the Gulf of La Spezia with the Apuan and Garfagnana mountains in the background.

Plums, peaches, apples and cherries are sold along with courgettes, aubergines, cabbage and tomatoes, and it is also possible to buy firewood and poles for fences. A farming is combined with accommodation, Agriturismo Ca’ del Monte, offering four independent rooms.

Tel:+ 39 338 1327792

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Località Ca’ del Monte 17 – Castello di Carro

Azienda agricola Artesana

The company, which also has a lavender farm, is active both in the agricultural sector, producing and selling seasonal vegetables, and in ‘naturalistic engineering’, such as landslide containment, the creation of fences, wildlife fences or the construction of pergolas with the exclusive use of chestnut poles, which are supplied raw or processed. Alongside the agricultural activity, there is also a forestry activity to restore the ancient chestnut groves and to resume chestnut harvesting.

Tel:+ 39 342 5061021

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Via Giacomo Leopardi 8 – Castello di Carro

Azienda agricola Breschi Giangiacomo

The company produces and sells typical Ligurian summer garden products such as tomatoes, potatoes, salads, cabbage, courgettes, peppers, aubergines and pumpkins. The vegetable garden, facing south with views towards Pavareto and Costa, is a typical example of terraced cultivation, a technique typical of the area, with flat, narrow strips sloping down towards the river.

Tel: +39 0187 861167 / +39 348 8673991

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Via Pasqualetti n.6 – Carro

Azienda agricola Il Costello di Roma Mauro

In an area, with a view that opens from the Cento Croci pass to the entire Gulf of Tigullio, an organic pig farm has been set up where salami, pancetta, coppe, fiocchetti and culatelli, prosciutto walnuts and lardo that can be the envy of Colonnata are produced and are available all year round.

In winter, during the period from November to March when pigs are slaughtered, it is possible to buy salami, sausage, black pudding, soppressata or testa in cassetta, and cotechini. It is always better to call ahead first and bear in mind that it is a niche and limited production.

Tel: +39 347 4356152

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Località Costello n.13 – Pera di Carro

Azienda agricola I CERRI

The company has 3.5 hectares of vineyards where native varieties such as Albarola, Vermentino, Ciliegiolo are cultivated, along with others from elsewhere such as Shyraz, Merlot, and Granaccia.

The grapes are harvested manually and the bunches, collected in small crates, immediately reach the winery, which is less than a kilometre from the vineyards. In the cellar, temperature-controlled fermentation, clarification with natural clays and mild filtration result in clean, healthy, pleasant and highly drinkable wines such as Campo grande, Cian dei seri, Fonet dietro il Sole, Poggio alle api, Baccarosa. The use of pesticides and herbicides has been banned in the vineyards, and the vines are fertilised with green manure and natural manure from the pastures of farming friends in the Alta Val di Vara.

Tel: +39 348 51 02 780 / +39 347 594 07 29
Website: https://icerrivaldivara.it
E-mail: info@icerrivaldivara.it

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Via Alfonso Garibotti, 9 – Carro

Azienda agricola Man da Prie

A number of Sangiovese and Albarola vines have been planted in a plot of land overlooked by a stone building dating back to the 17th century, in the area of the vegetable gardens of Ziona, a typical medieval hamlet surrounded by walls, as shown by two perfectly preserved entrances. These vines produce an unfiltered wine with no added sulphites. The bottles of Cavallo (red) and Brichetto (white) represent a very limited production which will be expanded in the future to include beer.

Tel: +39 338 1739604

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Via della Libertà 32 – Ziona di Carro

Il Pane di Carro

Managed since 1982 by an ancient family of bakers, the Pietronave family, now in its fifth generation, applied for and obtained the first licence to open a business in Castello in 1927.

Today the bakery in Carro produces an ancient loaf of bread, the ‘rigoletta’ named after the person who first created the dough, Rigoletta Zanini. This bread, whose typical shape is a loaf split in two and lightly floured, is still ‘branded’ today with the letters ZR, the ancient seal. It is baked in a wood-fired oven, just like the onion and tomato pizza, normal or whole-wheat focaccia, pan focaccia and ‘buccellato’, the sweet doughnut typical of the hamlet.

A vending machine for fresh milk from the Val di Vara was installed next to the bakery, along with one for soft drinks.

Tel: +39 339 5681597

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via Roma 26 – Carro