Il Borro Goes Back To It's Roots & Organic Farming Making Wines & Extra Virgin Olive Oil Naturally / Speaking With Salvatore Ferragamo

As I have said I have really enjoyed reconnecting with Tuscany and the Tuscan wines I love so much in part through the book Salvatore Ferragamo gave to me and my daughter after our very special and very private wine tour back in October 2009 with the two of us, Sara his assistant and his dog that drove up with him from Florence to meet us. Thanks you / prego Salvatore. I asked Sara if you could be there to greet us as it would make our experience all that more meaningful and she and you delivered " the goods " so to speak, and neither my daughter or I could have been any happier. ... ... I guess that in hindsight we did not really know how special the experience would be. Both of my good wine Italian buddies Alessandro Furlan and Andrea Fossi told me that , seeing my list of places I had contacted and places to go that Il Borro was at the top of their list. I should have known, I should have been smarter about this. But in my fashion and the way I like it best, I was less-prepared and ready for whatever so that I could better enjoy things completely knowing less. ... ... Let me explain, when I first contacted you, you invited me to stay at Il Borro and to get the information and sort out the details with Sara. Well, I got my signals crossed somehow in my correspondence with Sara afterward and did not take you up on your invitation. For the lunch that was ready for us we were late and so missed having that and seeing the small town Il Borro that you all have painstakingly taken it upon yourselves to restore and bring to it's former self and best. ... ... My daughter and I never saw any of this and your book : IL BORRO A Land Of Living Tradition has made it quite obvious what we did miss. All the more reason to return someday. ... ... What we did see was the cellars that have been restored faithfully with tradition and purpose and " the big picture " with planning and a future all in your minds. It is magnificent and it was a treat to stroll or glimpse into the stainless steel tanks structure and later walk down into the bowels and guts and warmth and safety of the cellars where the wine was resting and aging and where we were treated to a private tasting. ... ... What a contrast this was to the trip you made to the United States back in 2002 or was it 2003 and you visited MIke Martin and Anthony Quinn ( me ) with your wine oenologist and your United States rep with samples of your current reds and one white. At this moment in time I neither knew your or your family's wines. I was completely in the dark and I was not very nice to you when I sampled the wines. I remember that I objected greatly to your use of the Syrah and Merlot grapes and not more of the Sangiovese grape. I told you so in no uncertain terms. You took it well, your smile never left you completely or your composure or manners. You bore it all quite well. Prego Salvatore. ... ... What's more is that you also responded back immediately in mid 2009 when I contacted you by email. Prego Salvatore. ... ... I have recently been watching the Masterpiece Theater show with my wife " Downton Abbey " and the parallels between this village and farming / agricultural area in Il Borro, Tuscany and Downton Abbey are so obvious to me. Salvatore , you might think next to have someone write a script for you modeled on this for Il Borro as it is such a nobel and wonderful idea to preserve history and culture, a life style and to both give meaning and joy and sustenance and a livelihood to a group of needy people, as all people must have jobs : and those that bring them back some joy and some measure of wealth and their health, well I take my hat off to that endeavor. ... ... In my most recent email to you Salvatore I said that I would address your wines in this next blog post as I still had not done that : using your Il Borro book A Land Of Living Traditions as my guide. I do intend to do this, I really do. It might have to wait now for the fourth blog, the very next blog. I do not want to put too much into just one blog. I want to spread out this wealth of ideas and inspiration that is coming to me here through both this amazing book of yours and our emails that we are currently exchanging. ... ... In parting I will simply say : go to pages 164-167 in this wonderful book and concentrate on the olive trees and the idea of the excellent olive oil that they will produce : a superb Tuscan extra virgin olive oil. I LOVE page 165 : a close-up of these magnificent olives and leaves bathed in an incredible Tuscan sunshine : a glow and a hallow and clarity and brightness, too. The contrasts here in colors from a baby blue in the skies with wispy white clouds and the varying shades of greens in olives and their leaves, and then the ochre and burnt sienna tones of the ground and the ground cover : special, spectacular. ... ... My advice once you get there at some point set out on a hike with a loaf of bread and some of this extra virgin Tuscan olive oil and go sit down on the ground by these trees and breathe in all their history and inspiration as you enjoy a simple meal of their fruited labors with the bread, too. ... ... As is written here on Page 167 of the book : ... : OIL ... If wine accounts for half the agricultural output, olive oil is the other half. At Il Borro the olive groves were created by modeling the gentle slopes of the hills on the west ( northwest ) portion of the estate into even, simple terraces. Other groves were added to improve the quality and quantity of the final product. In their twisted trunks and cracked barks the old trees tell the story of climatic events ; in the shape of the crown they reveal the art and skill of the farmers in pruning, while the sap of the young trees strengthens and awakens the flavor of the oil." Wow, so beautiful, so eloquent. Bravo to everyone involved in this book. The translation into English was done by Julia Hanna Weiss and I applaud her work. Cheers to you all, cheers Salvatore. Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn