I was born in Milan in 1961 where I graduated in Agricultural Sciences specializing in Quality Systems and Water Management. From 1989 until 1992 I worked for Raul Gardini at Ferruzzi Finanziaria. Then I moved to Castagneto Carducci and started to work as a freelance Doctor of Agronomy. During this long period, I have applied myself in almost all fields of the profession. In particular, I have gained experience in the recovery, enhancement and administration of farms. In 1999, when my retired father Lorenzo arrived in Castagneto, I began with him the improvement of the family farm and in 2002 I made my first harvest and vinified my Bolgheri Rosso. In the farm of Castagneto we produced - for 9 years in organic - also extra virgin olive oil, fruit, and ornamental plants. After selling that company in 2013, in 2018 I bought another one in the hills in San Vincenzo, which I will tell you about today. A new farm of 15 hectares on the hills of San Vincenzo, where in a beautiful, wild, and natural environment, today I produce organic extra virgin olive oil from domestic and wild olive trees. The company had been abandoned for many years and for this reason the oil can be considered organic, genuine and born in an Olive Grove where the varietal and species’ difference give it particular value. I came here from the experience of Castagneto Carducci where, together with my collaborators, I lived an important chapter of life producing, among all, "Renzo", the Bolgheri Rosso Superiore which my father dreamed of. Today, that company continues its journey with others, and I can devote myself to rediscovering, cultivating, and enhancing the Olive Oil of this Olive grove. When I first came to the top of the hill of this beautiful olive grove, I immediately realized the luck I had had. I was in front of 15 hectares of olive trees which had been abandoned for 30 years or more. A varied environment lying amphitheatrically in front of the sea and its beneficial mitigating action, on the horizon the islands: Elba, Corsica and Capraia which almost make such a vast sea seem like a large lake. The ground on which I laid my feet had a wavy layering with modest slopes that were nevertheless sufficient to characterize it with different developments of the olive trees, according to exposure. Loam soil, equipped with consistent clay and fractured limestone, fertile and well drained. Indeed, in some areas, affected by a phreatic surface groundwater that could have supported the summer drought. This explains the moving resistance to abandonment shown by the 1500 olive trees planted here more than 100 years ago and the vigorous rebirth of another 1500 wild olive trees, spontaneously born together with widespread natural wild species. Thus, I was offered a unique experience to close the circle of my professional life: recover the value of this environment, respecting biological diversity and its genuineness, breed, and most of all learn from wild olive trees, which for me are genuine added value to this unique and beautiful territory.
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