There are places that emanate an enchanting charm that touches the soul, enveloping it in a sort of profound charm. They capture you for the natural beauty they emanate, for the history you feel is present in every step you take, for the intense peace they transmit. Parts of the earth capable of arousing emotions, forges where attitudes and talents develop. Nittardi in the heart of the Chianti Classico is all this.
Let’s rewind the threads of history. Along the dirt road that leads to Nittardi, on the top of a hill, surrounded by woods and valleys, dotted with different shades of green, you can see a medieval tower, inserted in the architectural context of the manor house. In the twelfth century this structure was inhabited by Benedictine monks, who, in addition to religious practices, introduced the cultivation of vines in these inaccessible places. The defense tower became known as “Nectar Dei” from the 16th century. The famous artist Michelangelo Buonarroti had discovered it while traveling through the Chianti area, during the design of improvements to the walls of the Florentine Republic and was so impressed, together with the splendid landscape in which it was immersed, that in 1549, while working on the Sistine Chapel , bought the estate. The wine produced in this little corner of paradise was so special that the artist wanted to donate it to Pope Julius II. This choice holds a profound meaning: at the time it was customary to give an artistic artefact as a gift. Michelangelo, deciding to send his wine instead, elevated it to a form of art. And so, art and wine are inextricably linked! Stefania Canali, historian, and her husband Peter Femfert, publisher and gallery owner, understood this well when they arrived in this place in 1981, remaining bewitched by it. They perceived its strong vocation for viticulture and art and decided to perpetrate its history, between wine, art and culture.
And so, every year since the 1981 harvest, they have invited artist friends, some of the biggest names in modern and contemporary art, who spend periods of quiet and work here, interpreting the genius loci through two original works, which then go to make up the label and the silk paper that wraps the bottle of Nittardi Vigna Doghessa’s Chianti Classico Casanuova. Today, Léon Femfert is also the heir to the art collection of 78 works, including names of the caliber of
Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Mimmo Paladino, Yoko Ono, Günther Grass, Karl Otto Götz, Horst Janssen, Giuliano Ghelli, Corneille, A.R. Penck, Mitoraj, Emilio Tadini, Valerio Adami, Eduardo Arroyo, Tomi Ungerer, Pierre Alechinsky, Kim Tschang Yeul, Alain Clement, Joe Tilson, Allen Jones.
Art is also in the paths of the Sculpture Garden, an extended path also inside the vineyards, created through patient research. Nature and art meet in harmony, in this oasis of beauty, among vineyards, woods, olive trees and Mediterranean scrub.
The Garden, in addition to an unusual collection of lions that includes more than 15 specimens, from various eras and different materials, symbol of the Nittardi coat of arms, hosts valuable works by international artists including Miguel Berrocal, Horst Antes, Victor Roman, Raymond Waydelich, Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
I Canali-Femfert retraced Michelangelo’s history by giving Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis the first bottles of wine from the vineyards of the Tuscan Maremma, purchased later, of the wine symbolically called “Nectar Dei” from the original name of the ancient tower of Nittardi.
