Il Borro’s 30th anniversary: Ferruccio, Salvatore and Vittoria Ferragamo presents a new exhibition at the Wine & Art Gallery – and are set to open all year round
Ferruccio, Salvatore and Vittoria Ferragamo celebrate 30 years of Il Borro with an art exhibition
It was 1993 when Ferruccio Ferragamo bought Il Borro. 1100 hectares of land nestled in the heart of Valdarno, surrounded by lush woodland; 85 hectares of vineyards and 29 hectares of olive groves. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary, together with his children Salvatore and Vittoria, Ferruccio Ferragamo inaugurated a new exhibition at the estate’s Wine & Art Gallery entitled 1993-2023 Il Borro – Un atto di fede che dura nel tempo (1993-2023 Il Borro – An Act of Faith that Endures).
Ferruccio Ferragamo welcomed a small audience of visitors to the Gallery for the opening night, taking them on a tour of the collection of antique engravings he has collected over the years-a heritage that continues to grow. From Chagall to Picasso to Giorgio Morandi’s Natura Morta, the exhibition is interspersed with historical images of the estate.
Il Borro Relais & Châteaux in Valdarno, Tuscany
Ferruccio Ferragamo had the opportunity to observe and learn the work of the countryside, in the estates purchased years earlier by parents Salvatore and Wanda Ferragamo – the Tenuta Viesca, where the family spent their summers. He then chose his own Valdarno countryside: Il Borro. Here, in this medieval village restored to new luster, he built a home for himself and his family – and a business in tune with the times that in 2022 achieved twenty-two percent growth with a turnover of nineteen million euros. An outcome achieved after three decades of commitment to the territory: in 1995 the redevelopment of the ancient vineyards was carried out; in 2012 the facility joined the Relais & Châteaux Association; and in 2015 the complete transition to organic was accomplished.
The story of Il Borro, Valdarno
The fief was settled a century after the Year One Thousand, in the rocky Tuscan land, the ‘balze’ or ridges, corners of earth that are the edges of bluffs, covered with woods. Il Borro means the bed of an ancient river, and the word was adopted as the surname of the family that owned the lands.
The Borro lineage ended in the late Eighteenth Century, and the estate became the property of the Grand Duchy. Marriages then took it into the hands of the Hohenlohe-Waldenburg in the Nineteenth Century, and it was then divided among the Savoy-Aosta cadet branches. World War Two left its traces.
Ferruccio Ferragamo bought the medieval village of Il Borro in 1993 and restored it to new luster
In 1993, Ferruccio Ferragamo bought the seven hundred hectares of land in the south of Florence and brought them back to life, with vineyards and olive groves, fields, and hills. He acquired them from the dominion of the Duke of Aosta whose wife, Claudia of Orléans, still lives in the area.
The plain is broken up like a cracked slab of marble, with gorges and a sandstone bedrock, or pietraforte, on a clayey terrain that is suitable for the cultivation of Tuscan vineyards. This gives a geometric impression, with streams and canals running through the earth, joining the Arno River. Some metal fences aim at keeping the wild animals of the surrounding woods. Around the hamlet, peasants live their lives in the small towns of the Tuscan countryside.
Raising animals at Il Borro enables a from farm to table system
Il Borro estate has a wide space for horses at its entrance, where Elisa looks after about forty animals that include thoroughbreds and long-haired Irish Cobs. The colts stay in the same paddock until eighteen months old, then are separated as they risk hurting each other by fighting. The draft horses are much bigger, and need a big space, which Il Borro is not lacking.
The Il Borro estate has ample room for horses, including thoroughbreds and long-haired Irish Cobs. The foals stay in the same paddock until they are eighteen months old, then they are separated because they risk injuring each other by fighting. Draft horses are much larger and need a large space, which Il Borro does not lack. Endless spaces to cross in a jeep: Chianina cows graze the grass between the lines of the hills, while white Valdarnese or Livornese hens live in a large chicken coop that allows maximum freedom of movement.
Commodities at Il Borro – Lampoon reviews
The ancient hamlet is all that remains of a castle built in the area, and the only way up is a stone bridge that winds up the slope and then joins the street leading to the peasants’ houses. In this ‘albergo diffuso’ or ‘scattered hotel’, each room has a different size, as it happens for villages’ houses. The furnishings embody the rural but cared for philosophy of the location.
Opposite to the hamlet stands the manor house – for a single guest and off limits to visitors when occupied –, while on the left, a living area opens out for lunch. The SPA could be an option for the winter season, or just heating the outdoor infinity pool seen through the windows of the lounge and the gym. Also old farmhouses can be rented, their restoration created zero-energy buildings that use renewable sources.
Dimora Storica – the Historic Mansion
The architectural heart of Il Borro beats in the Historic Mansion. A building constructed in 1854 by Hohenlohe Waldenburg. This family has a long history in Tuscany: Italy-Prince Christian Albert played a role in promoting the region’s wines and cultural heritage. Patron of the arts, he also helped found the Accademia dei Filomati, a society dedicated to promoting literature and the arts in Tuscany.
Sold in the 20th century to Duke Amedeo d’Aosta, the structure was later acquired by Ferruccio Ferragamo along with the entire hamlet. It has ten bedrooms and communal spaces in a refined Italian nineteenth-century style that has been restored to its splendor after a renovation job. Pearl: the master bedroom on the top floor, opening the window, the spectacle of this place: in. low, the Italian garden with the fountain in the center, and beyond, the borgo.
The estate is today managed by Salvatore Ferragamo, son of Ferruccio
The complex includes a farm that since 2015 has been totally organic and eco-sustainable with its forty-five hectares of vineyards and forty of olive groves, plus forage fields and vegetable crops. Then there are bees, with thirty hives and two hundred free-range hens. The organic produce is managed by Vittoria Ferragamo, the youngest daughter, and found in a cuisine that promotes the flavors of the local soil: artichokes, salad, oil, zolfini beans, chickpeas. The bistrot on the edge of the wood and the starred restaurant are both, however, slightly impersonal.
Il Borro wine and the labels produced by the estate
Production of wine in Tuscany is a subject dating back to the start of the Eighteenth Century and something Cosimo III de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany intended to structure. He divided the Chianti countryside into four sectors: central Chianti, Carmignano, Pomio and upper Val d’Arno. The latter is Borro, whose DOC appellation was recognized in 2011.
Il Borro IGT Toscana Rosso (50% Merlot, 35% Cabernet, 15% Syrah) is the emblem of the winery itself. In addition, Borro produces 12 other entirely organic labels. The winemaking project began in 1995, with the first studies to determine the characteristics of the soil. The vineyards are located between 300 and 500 meters above sea level in the Valdarno hills at the foot of Mount Pratomagno – cultivated and managed according to organic farming principles. In 2011, oenologist, agronomist and consultant Stefano Chioccioli began the three-year process of conversion to organic viticulture: in 2015 the winery obtained organic certification. No pesticides or chemical fertilizers are used. Pruning is done during the waning moon to respect the plant’s sap. Ecosystems include insects, fungus and antagonist bacteria, with rows of vines alternating with grassy species after harvesting to enrich the humus.
A medieval structure dug into the ground
If the beauty of the vineyards is open-air, the surprise is below ground: the winery, a 3,000-square-meter complex under vegetation, consisting of a medieval structure dug into the ground, and another more modern winery, built from scratch in 2000. A new tunnel was built in 2004 to be used as a barrique cellar-more than 600 French oak barrels for aging wine-and as a connecting passage between the two cellars. One wine, the Petruna, is vinified in amphorae for a year. The bottle dedicated to Alessandro dal Borro, a condottiero against the Turks in the first half of the Seventeenth Century, has a label stuck to its belly: irony in wine. This bottle of red wine is worth hundreds of euros and is made with cold-pressed Syrah grapes, fermented in French oak.
Il Borro is open all year round
Travel has undergone changes in the last few years, with new trends and patterns emerging in the tourism industry: one such trend is the growing popularity of Tuscany as a year-round travel destination, with visitors coming to enjoy its cultural heritage, the countryside, and the traditional cuisine. At Il Borro, the goal is year-round opening – they are already experimenting with opening on winter weekends.
Here, every season is a season to experience. In spring it is dressed in tulips, daffodils and irises. Long walks in the countryside, dotted with cherry and peach blossoms, await us-we return if it starts to rain. Summer arrives, and the meadows give way to sunflowers, lavender, roses and poppies. Evenings cool off. In autumn, crisp mornings and sunny afternoons. Vibrant foliage tints the hillsides red, orange and yellow with its chrysanthemums, asters and dahlias. Snow may come, in winter, and then one takes the opportunity to relax in the warmth of the hamlet. Outside are the cyclamens, hellebores and camellias.
Ferruccio Ferragamo
Ferruccio Ferragamo is the chairman of Il Borro. Since 1996 he has been Chairman of Ferragamo Finanziaria S.p.A, the holding company that controls the Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. Group. He joined the family business in 1963 when he managed the production operations and the proprietary stores, and subsequently moved to the financial and administrative departments and in 1970 he became General Manager and in 1984 Chief Executive Officer of the Group. Finally, he will be Chairman from 2006 to April 2021. Appointed in 2021 as Cavaliere del Lavoro (Knight of Labour) for having distinguished himself for initiative, courage and entrepreneurial intelligence, nowadays Ferruccio Ferragamo plays a key role in several associations and is also the President of Polimoda of Florence.
Salvatore Ferragamo
Salvatore Ferragamo worked in the international division of KPMG Peat Marwick of Florence and subsequently took charge of the winemaking and hospitality operations of Il Borro. After an apprenticeship at Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. in the marketing and production departments in 1990, he decided to further his professional training with an MBA degree at the Stern School of Business of the New York University, specializing in finance and international affairs. In 1993 he followed his father, Ferruccio Ferragamo, in the long and challenging restoration of II Borro ancient medieval village and in the development of the wine business. In 2012, when II Borro joined Relais & Châteaux, Salvatore was appointed Brand Ambassador and tasked with representing the excellence and prestige of the organization.
Vittoria Ferragamo
Vittoria Ferragamo is the penultimate of Ferruccio Ferragamo’s six children. Born in New York, she studied in the University of Paris, Richmond College in London and the American University in Rome where she graduated in International Communication. She joined Il Borro in 2013 and nowadays she is responsible for all activities related to horses, the Organic Garden and the Special Projects of the Estate.
Il Borro
Località Borro, 1, 52024 Loro Ciuffenna AR. Il Borro is part of the Relais & Châteaux global fellowship. The restored medieval village houses 38 suites: three villas – Dimora Storica, Villa Mulino and Villa Casetta – and the 20 suites of Le Aie del Borro. The Relais & Châteaux solutions are joined by “I Borrigiani,” three farmhouses managed with the agritourism formula; three restaurants: the Osteria del Borro, Il Borro Tuscan Bistro and the Vin Café, under the guidance of executive chef Andrea Campani; the La Corte Spa, the Borro Bar, il Borro Concept and the Galleria Vino & Arte.
Il Borro: wines’ lebels
Il Borro IGT Toscana Rosso (50% Merlot, 35% Cabernet, 15% Syrah) is the emblem of the winery. In addition, Il Borro produces 12 other entirely organic labels: Bolle di Borro Rosato Metodo Classico (100% Sangiovese) – which matures on the lees for 60 months, Alessandro dal Borro IGT Toscana Syrah in purity, Petruna IGT Toscana Sangiovese in purity, vinified in Amphora, Polissena IGT Toscana Sangiovese in purity, Pian di Nova IGT Toscana (75% Syrah, 25% Sangiovese), Borrigiano Valdarno di Sopra Doc (40% Merlot, 35% Syrah, 25% Sangiovese), Rosé del Borro IGT Toscana (100% Sangiovese), Lamelle IGT Toscana Chardonnay in purity, Vin Santo del Chianti Occhio di Pernice (100% Sangiovese), Grappa del Borro Riserva (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah).
Matteo Mammoli
