ELISABETTA FAGIUOLI is the living metaphor of her land, and she greets you, as the land welcomes you, with a smile that testifies to her joy in extending you hospitality. She shares with you her vision of the world, and impresses you with the same quiet strength that millennial culture of winemaking possesses. And you accept her for the elegance of her eloquence and gestures.

She knows how to be firm and tough, going against the stream and standing alone, but is never unpleasant, never violent, with the same demeanor as the timeworn towers of San Gimignano across the valley from her property, towers grafted miraculously to the slopes of the hills harmoniously planted in vines and olives... On Poggio di San Gimignano

LUIGI VERONELLI: I Vignaioli Storici , 1989

Thoughts About The 2009 Vintage, And San Vincenzo

As happens every year, at the festival of San Vincenzo, the Patron Saint and protector of winemakers, we talked of the vintage just passed.

• A mild winter.
• A cold spring.
• A torrid summer.
• A fantastic harvest, which began on September 14th for the white grapes, and September 30 for the reds.

The harvest was much more abundant this year, thanks to the new Vernaccia, Sangiovese and Colorino vineyards that have entered into production.

The vintage yielded beautiful wines with elegant bouquets. The spring frosts slowed ripening, which resumed with considerable energy thanks to the summer's heat. The fermentations were normal, consuming sugars and mallic acid during the three months prior to Christmas. The new wines are aging on their lees, in vat and barrique.

As always, San Vincenzo was a festival of friendship, bringing together winemakers and friends of our great small world, people who recognize the same truths even if they come from all over the globe.

And as always, we enjoyed pleasurable hours around a long table, exchanging stories and ideas.