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The history of San Polino goes back at least 1,000 years to when the gravel road that runs down past the farmhouse constituted the main road which connected the area of the Monte Amiata to Siena.
Undoubtably since then the farmhouse will have been rebuilt and added to many times and many different generations of different families will have considered San Polino their home, but we know for sure that the hillside on which San Polino stands (“Poggio San Polino” according to old maps) has been intimately familiar to people for hundreds of years.
For much of its life San Polino and its original 40 hectares would have had to support an extended family of up to 15-20 people, as well as handing over half of its produce to the local landlords. This sytem, known as “mezzadria”, came to an end after the second world war.
When we bought the house with 5 hectares of land and 400 “olivastra” olive trees in 1992 we had no neighbours, and certainly no neighbouring vineyards. The last inhabitants (human, that is) had moved away at least 20 years previously and the house had been empty since then. All we could hear were sheep bells and the sounds of animal life in the surrounding forests.
We immediately planted a small vineyard of Sangiovese. The grapes grew beautifully and easily and the wine, made under the house, was rustic, delicious and full-bodied .
The olive oil, nutty and spicey, was another surprise and we have kept our secular olives as an integral part of the farm.
We planted 2.5 hectares of Sangiovese vineyard in 1999,using the traditional four spurred cordon methods. Our farm was certified organic in 1992 and we kept to these principles in viticulture, largely as a consequence of our belief that the environment must be safeguarded and that nature is to be respected.
San Polino now produces 10,000 – 12,000 bottles of wine anually and is once again working as a living, thriving farm, hopefully with as much future as it has history.
Undoubtably since then the farmhouse will have been rebuilt and added to many times and many different generations of different families will have considered San Polino their home, but we know for sure that the hillside on which San Polino stands (“Poggio San Polino” according to old maps) has been intimately familiar to people for hundreds of years.
For much of its life San Polino and its original 40 hectares would have had to support an extended family of up to 15-20 people, as well as handing over half of its produce to the local landlords. This sytem, known as “mezzadria”, came to an end after the second world war.
When we bought the house with 5 hectares of land and 400 “olivastra” olive trees in 1992 we had no neighbours, and certainly no neighbouring vineyards. The last inhabitants (human, that is) had moved away at least 20 years previously and the house had been empty since then. All we could hear were sheep bells and the sounds of animal life in the surrounding forests.
We immediately planted a small vineyard of Sangiovese. The grapes grew beautifully and easily and the wine, made under the house, was rustic, delicious and full-bodied .
The olive oil, nutty and spicey, was another surprise and we have kept our secular olives as an integral part of the farm.
We planted 2.5 hectares of Sangiovese vineyard in 1999,using the traditional four spurred cordon methods. Our farm was certified organic in 1992 and we kept to these principles in viticulture, largely as a consequence of our belief that the environment must be safeguarded and that nature is to be respected.
San Polino now produces 10,000 – 12,000 bottles of wine anually and is once again working as a living, thriving farm, hopefully with as much future as it has history.
