A farming estate linked to
local traditions and its own earth
Our brochure's cover bears a poem dedicated to Giovan Battista Landeschi, who in 1758 took over the parish of Sant’Angelo a Montorzo, about a five-minute walk from Podere del Grillo. This farmer-priest became famous in the 19th century for his book “Saggi di agricoltura di un parocco samminiatese” (Agricultural essays of a San Miniato pastor), a detailed manual for farming the Pliocene clay-sand hillslopes, and for managing their water, or as he put it, their “water economy.”
When we came upon those abandoned terraces for the first
time, I had a clear sensation that the area was still alive--not only did it exhale history, it was still capable of yielding riches. Under its brambles I could already see in my mind’s eye sunny terraces of artichokes and olives, fields and borders blanketed in tomatoes and onions, all crowned on high with a wondrous vineyard, planted to sangiovese in homage to Tuscany and to the superb winegrower whose land borders mine: Leonardo Beconcini.
Today my entire family is involved with the Podere del Grillo farm, since farming today is not a job but a philosophy of life.