Alma Mater Vinorum
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Villa I Tatti in 1909 |
Let's rewind to a little over one century ago.
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Bernard Berenson at Villa I Tatti in 1911 |
In 1906 the great great US critic and art historian, Bernard Berenson, bought Villa I Tatti, located in Fiesole, in the outskirts of Florence. Three years later the scholar contracted Cecil Pinsent and Geoffrey Scott to remodel the main building and wonderful park. When Berenson died in 1959, he left Villa I Tatti and the annexed extended library to the Harvard University, which transformed into an international center for the study of the Italian Renaissance historic period.
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Villa I Tatti seen from the park |
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Steps to access Villa I Tatti from the park |
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Harvard Crest |
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The villa, part of which dates back to the 16th century, currently features the amazing book collection left by Berenson, a comparably rich photo archive, and a collection of 120 pieces of Renaissance and Oriental art. Additionally, the property extends to over 35 hectares (around 86.5 acres), and includes an olive orchard with 3,500 trees, which produce about 4.5 – 5 metric tons of excellent extra virgin olive oil, and two hectares (around 5 acres) of vineyards which produce small quantities of quality wine.
Today, Harvard University, one of the top US and worldwide academic institutions, produces quality table products at its Tuscan property of Villa I Tatti, though with typical New England understatement, they are not eager to advertise it.
As we are passionate enophiles and culture buffs, we tracked down the technical manager for the farming production, Andrea Laini, who considers himself the modern incarnation of the head farmer of times past, and enquired him about the estate production.
Laini arrived at Villa I Tatti in 2001 and turned the production inside out, focusing on producing superior wine and oil without compromise. The results followed and currently Villa I Tatti is aiming to stop the output of bulk products, and produces 8,000 bottles of wine, three quarter of which are Chianti Colli Fiorentini DOCG, and the remaining quarter, Rosso Toscano IGT. The Chianti in particular has a remarkable character. After six months in French barriques, alternating between new and older barrels, it acquires a lively, brilliant personality, which invites consumers to pour another glass, leaving the palate utterly satisfied. It is a truly pleasant surprise.
The owner of Villa I Tatti, however, is not planning to keep things as they are currently. In fact, there's a project for further expansion of the vineyard in 2008. Given the results so far, we can only approve the decision.
On the labels of the Villa I Tatti wine you won't see references to Harvard. The upscale school is not planning to grace the wine labels with the noble crest featuring the word VERITAS any time soon.
Both olive oil and wine labels though, which by the way are very elegant, bear Berenson's monogram: a bee below two overlapping "B's", for the initials of the great American scholar.
We believe that this bee will soon find a place for itself in the wine universe as well, not just in the academic world.
| For more information: Villa "I Tatti", The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, Via di Vincigliata 22, 50135 Firenze, t T el. 055 603251, Fax 055 603383 |
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