“I believe that much happiness belongs to men who are born where good wines are found”
My name is Martina and I represent the third generation of winemakers in my family. My grandfather Bruno, nicknamed “Colombaccio”, bought the company in the seventies of the last century and here he continued to do what he had always done since he was a child and what his father did before him: produce wine and extra virgin olive oil. At that time the production was sufficient for family consumption and for sale in demijohns to some local customers. I was born here, in the Tuscan countryside, between the Val d’Orcia, a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2004, and the Val di Chiana, home of the famous Chianina beef. I grew up on “bread, wine and sugar”, the snack of those times, and I have always actively participated in the grape harvest which was a great celebration for us. My grandfather was only happy when the house was full of people, the more people there were, the more he felt at home. And for every guest who arrived, a stop in the cellar to taste “a drop of Vin Santo” was inevitable: it was his simple but sincere way of welcoming. And it is this passion that my grandfather passed on to me, which showed me the path to take in my life. So since 2016 I have been carrying on the family tradition, producing artisan quality wines and extra virgni olive oil and welcoming my guests to offer them unforgettable food and wine experiences, immersed in the most beautiful landscape in the world.
But that is not all. My memories of a happy little girl playing in the open air prompted me to create the nursery Sbarbacipolle, to let other children experience the same experiences that I had at their age. And always with a strong synergy between our family, a tourist apartment was born to welcome those attentive visitors eager to get to know our traditions up close: the Lignanello Country House.
“Nature is in no hurry, yet everything happens”
I was born and raised in contact with nature and animals. I graduated in Environmental Economics and environmental protection has always been at the center of my world.
This is why the products that come from this land represent the very essence of nature.
Respect for natural cycles and the use of cultivation techniques and products that are good for the environment and the living beings that inhabit it: this is my philosophy.
Not only that, even the products that I offer in my restaurant to accompany the tastings come from local organic farms. It could not be otherwise!
“Quality means doing things right when no one is watching”
The Lignanello farm today covers about 5 hectares, of which about 1.5 are vineyards and 2.5 are olive groves. We are small producers: we bottle around 5,500 bottles every year and only in the best vintages. We are wine artisans: in the vineyard as in the cellar we follow every stage of production and, with the help of all the members of the family, we manually carry out every cultivation practice, from winter pruning to harvesting, from pruning the olive trees to harvesting.
All this to create not just products, but the fruit of our commitment to research the highest quality.
Niche products, which can be found in the company or by contacting us to receive them directly at home.
Sangiovese is the king of these lands and is modeled on the basis of the dress it wears, i.e. the soil and climate in which it lives. Then there are Merlot and Syrah, the only international vines that we produce only in small quantities, to “marry” Sangiovese, softening its character. And again the whites, the native Tuscan Trebbiano, Malvasia and Grechetto, which are transformed into our white wine and Vinsanto, which we produce in very limited quantities.
We place our family roots in the olive grove, caring for each plant with love and putting to good use practices and knowledge inherited from the experience of those who came before us. Our olive trees in the Tuscan varieties Frantoio, Leccino, Moraiolo and Pendolino make up two plots, one still young, the other left by my grandfather who planted it in the eighties. This area today represents a suggestive location for events and experiences.
The cellar dug into the Pliocene rock of millions of years ago; wines that mature in French oak barrels wrapped in the right degree of humidity, which the rock naturally generates. All around the smell of wine, wood and rock.
Our visits and tastings are the ideal way to fully enjoy the experience, getting closer to the authentic scents and flavors of this small world, waiting to be discovered.