Il Podere "Il Casino"

The Podere Il Casino lies in southern Tuscany, in the foothills of the extinguished volcano Monte Amiata. It is part of the municipality of Seggiano, which has a population of just under 1000. The medieval village and surrounding hamlets are located in what is referred to as a socio-economically disadvantaged marginal region and are marked by rural exodus. Thus, in the area surrounding Monte Amiata, one finds many fallow croplands, overgrown olive groves, and small dilapidated poderi, or farms. In 1999, the Podere Il Casino was still among them. Early in 2000, the semi-derelict house and its 65 hectares of land were acquired at auction by Adolf and Alexandra Burkhardt. The unexpected death of Döfe Burkhardt, who, recently retired, had intended to dedicate himself to cultivating the newly-planted vineyard, forced the family to change their plans.

Since 2003, Anders Gautschi and Franziska Burkhardt have been directing the farm. The company was restructured, the podere transformed into an azienda agricola, the croplands re-cultivated, the overgrown vineyard nurtured back to health, the olive trees pruned and harvested, and the first extravergine olive oil produced. The land is now cultivated according to the guidelines of organic farming and is officially certified organic since 2006.

The sales crisis of the Italian wine industry in the years 2004/05 was particularly effective in Tuscany. As a result, a new strategy had to be chosen since grape prices were too low even pay off the picking! Hence, a derelict annex was reconstructed to enable wine production on site.

In spring 2007 the first wine was bottled.

Today, 28 of the 65 hectares of land are cropland: 4 ha of vineyard, 6 ha of olive groves, and 18 ha of arable land. The rest are forest and scrubland, richly populated by deer, wild boars, and porcupines, who enjoy eating the grapes as much as we do…