Among the Chianti hills, Villa Montepaldi is the only university farm in Italy run by a commercial company
Villa Montepaldi, a farm owned by the University of Florence. Here, a San Casciano Val di Pesa, peasant knowledge becomes university culture, while the didactic research and experimentation activities meet the reality of a production unit. In the background, the beauty of a landscape which is imbued with this culture, designed as it is by the work of man who for centuries has arranged rows and planted olive groves; and the passage of time is told by the walls of a Villa where Lorenzo de 'Medici already produced "vermilion and evil" wines.
Villa Montepaldi: a unique model in Italy
Villa Montepaldi is a truly unique case in our country. «It's about a commercial activity carried out by a company owned by the University – he explains Simone Toccafondi, sole director of Villa Montepaldi – is a SRL, wholly owned by the public body, and as such must carry on a commercial activity, aiming, if not for dividends to be assigned to the Member, at least to achieve an economic and financial balance. On the other hand, the University, which has a specific interest in maintaining participation, since the company is used to support teaching and research activities conducted by the same University ". It is thus outlined a dual soul which always has quality as its ultimate goal. Wine and oil they are present on the national market, distribution is expanding internationally and looks at large-scale retail trade. And from next year you can also return to buy pasta, produced from ancient grain flours grown on the farm.
A lesson on the field
Students are present for courses and seminars. "In particular, agricultural students have the opportunity to see how work in an olive grove or vineyard works, to follow the procedures in the cellar, but they do not participate in the production process. – says Toccafondi – There are also possibilities for curricular internships, exercises and activities for the theses working on the wine, olive and landscape sectors. They are students of agrarian, but the interest of students and teachers can potentially extend to many other scientific disciplinary sectors, such as biology, engineering and architecture. But not only: here there is room for history, even for archeology, with the next opening of a new archaeological site ".
Research: the future has its roots in the past
A fundamental role, as is logical, is played by research. Among the first projects, the project MANY, acronym for Montepaldi Long Term Experiments, started in the 90s. «It was one of the first comparative experiments in the field biological, a comparative study conducted on arable land, aimed at comparing the performance of three different agricultural systems: conventional, integrated and organic. The results have been positive for the organic sector, and since 2017 almost the entire company is in organic conversion, with the only exception of the wine sector ".
The research activity does not stop there, and it is always Toccafondi to explain how many studies have been carried out over the years. Particularly interesting is the one conducted on autochthonous yeasts, in collaboration with the academic spin-off FoodMicroTeam S.r.l. «We want to isolate the yeasts in our cellar. Once identified, we select them and we will use them in the 2020 vintage. Ours is a historic company, we speak of nine centuries of history: a large part of the cellar is part of the Medici villa. In a case like this, the use of indigenous yeasts means a search for quality, a desire to create a taste that is representative of not only a territorial identity, but even a corporate one, in opposition to the predominant use of industrial yeasts. There is more: this research carries out a natural approach, respectful of something that has been present in our company for centuries ". An approach that also looks at health: "today the link between health and nutrition opens an ever wider field of investigation, which leads to the possible interaction of the company also with researchers in the medical area".
Products, quality as responsibility
But teaching and research are not enough. The company offers good products on the market: wine and oil, as in the best Tuscan tradition. The DOCG Chianti Classico finds its maximum expression in the Grand Selection, produced exclusively in the best vintages and from the best grapes of the company. But also the other wines of the company carry on the philosophy of quality: «Being part of the university, beyond the institutional purposes, also means being aware of the responsibility we have: transferring the highest scientific knowledge into the production processes to guarantee both environmental protection in the production phase and creation of high quality products that contribute to preserving the health of the final consumer ". An awareness that must be translated into aiming for excellence.
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