Followers of the Beyond Black book series or B Beyond Magazine might already be familiar with Fattoria La Vialla, the totally organic, family run farm set in the foothills of Tuscany on the outskirts of Arezzo. Although its raison d’etre is its produce, the farm also has guest houses on the property to accommodate the occasional visitor who wishes to be fully immersed in the rustic experience.
La Vialla is not just a firm favourite of this imprint, however: the estate has also continued to collect a quite incredible number of awards for its work in producing some of the finest quality organic food and wine in Italy, while at the same time maintaining a totally sustainable approach to managing the natural environment. In 2008, Fattoria La Vialla was also denoted a “Carbon Farm” by the European Environment Agency due to its negative carbon footprint – the fact that it absorbs more carbon dioxide than it produces (-3,880 tons in 2009 and today -5385 tons).
These are phenomenal achievements in and of themselves, of course, but they are all the more remarkable when one learns that the owners, Piero and Giuliana Lo Franco, had no agricultural experience prior to their acquisition of their first farm (back in 1978), which now makes up one part of the estate. After falling in love with the rural life, the pair could never have imagined that, after their first purchase, the small Ca dell’oro vegetable farm, they would find themselves devoting more and more time to a growing homestead of farms, vineyards, houses and olive groves.
The 3,316 acre farm that flourishes today started from humble beginnings. So much so, in fact, that it is still named to reflect the early work that took place at the very start of the Fattoria La Vialla journey. The small Ca Dell’oro farm was tended using the simplest of instruments, the “vialla” – Italian for a small plough used for vegetable gardens and mountain terrain. Since then, with a remarkable sensitivity to the natural environment, Piero and Giuliano – and, subsequently, their family – have worked near ceaselessly to restore this fertile paradise to a state of productivity and balance the likes of which had not been seen in the area for decades. This was an almost an ant-industrial approach – a labour of love that has reaped incredible, palpable rewards over the years.
The Lo Franco family now have well-defined roles at the estate that allows each of them to look after their own sphere of production: Gianni, the oldest of Piero and Giuliano’s three sons, looks after the administration; Bandino (the youngest) is in charge of the mill, the oil and the sauce making and Antonio, a trained sommelier, looks after the vineyards. By keeping the business family run, the Lo Francos ensure that La Villa continues to operate on the same values as it did when it started: those of quality, sustainablility and a commitment to an organic lifestyle and means of production.
Visitors to La Vialla will leave wondering why and how agriculture has evolved to be anything other than what it is here. A slew of gold medal awards fail to do enough justice to the lilting pleasures of the farm’s many creations: extra virgin olive oil, pecorino cheese, red and white wines, spumanti, sughi (sauces), pasta and more… After tasting the ‘Pomarolina’ (tomato sauce with vegetables) or the ‘Fragolino’ (aubergine based sauce with honey), many will consider it an act of mercy that La Vialla offer a catalogue order service to selected customers via their website.
This remarkable place is, quite simply, a must-visit destination for anyone visiting Tuscany. The overwhelming quality of the food and wine produced at this very farm is now widely regarded as one of the major attractions to the region – an almost unbelievable accomplishment when looking back at La Vialla’s history, and one that is a testament to the values of hard work and remaining true to one’s convictions.
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