"Il Conte Matto"

In the tiny historic village of Trequanda stands a castle that has been empty for the last 60 years, and over the years it has slowly fallen into disarray. The last count who lived in the castle was a flamboyant character who lived largely and enjoyed life in excess. There were extravagant parties, booze, and gambling, and in order to maintain his extravagant lifestyle the count had to sell off pieces of his land, and slowly his estate became smaller and smaller. Eventually, there was nothing left, no land, and no more money for the upkeep of the castle. Eventually, the party had to come to an end and that was it for the count. But his days of wild fun did leave him with one thing, a special nickname: il Conte Matto, the Crazy Count.

After the Count passed away the Castle was empty but many years ago the castle’s 14C hunting lodge was converted by Davide into an excellent slow-food restaurant named: Il Conte Matto. The restaurant has a stunning panoramic terrace overlooking the hills of the surrounding countryside. The food at Il Conte Matto is exquisite, all made with fresh, organic, and seasonal ingredients. Specialties like pici al ragu, veal tagliata seasons with three salts and herbs from the garden, and Cantico served with dessert wine. My personal favorite; sformato di melanzane.

Additionally, Davide has set up a small enoteca which literally means “wine repository” or” wine library” and is a hands-on source of information on local wines. Davide stocks rather small amounts of each wine, and customers who wish to purchase large quantities after tasting are referred directly to the producers. This is how we discovered the impressive small wine estate Podere Alberese (read the full article here: https://plinius.homes/en/article/podere-alberese )

IL CONTE MATTO  - via Taverne 40, Trequanda 53020 Italy  www.contematto.it 

The Castle

In recent years there have been some very interesting developments at the castle. We will reveal more about this project very soon, stay tuned!

Lost property of the Crazy Count

One of the properties and land Il Conte Matto (The Crazy Count of Trequanda) sold off to finance his parties was a beautiful farm just outside the village. This was prime real estate at the time because of the exceptional location of the farm. Interestingly this property is now part of the Plinius Collection: Plinius No. 001