THE FARM

The farm is located right outside the village of Centoia, few kilometres away from the border of the Cortona Municipality with the Siena and Perugina provinces.
The village was in ancient times a roman settlement and that’s where the name Centoia is derived from (from latin Centuria, later to become, in high medieval times, Centorio). Houses are today still arranged along the road which still follows closely the course of the roman Cardus, oriented north to south and connecting as early as in etruscan times the Lucumonies of Cortona and Chiusi.
The village’s location, at the crossroads of three different counties and relatively higher than the surrounding countryside (324 mt. a.s.l.) is in fact a tremendous observation point which affords a 360-degree scope view of three completely different landscapes merging as one.
From north to west your gaze sweeps over the astonishing panorama of Cortona, the cortonese rolling hills and lake Trasimeno and its islands to meet in the south, south-east the first gentle senese hills placed against the backdrop of Montepulciano, Mount Cetona and Amiata and the fortress of Radicofani.
The farm consists of two separate dwelling units: one of them is relatively modern and is in part inhabited by the owners and in part accommodates the apartment “Il Giogo” whilst the other is an old farmhouse dating back as far as the 1600s and divided into two large apartments (La loggia and Gli Archi) and other rooms reserved for the farmhouse guests.
The property was purchased by the Lucianis in 1960 as the family, once ended the sharecropping era, moved from their master’s land to their own; putting to good use his lifelong experience the farm was managed for many years by grandfather Lorenzo with the help of his brother Ottorino and his sons and is currently, after Lorenzo’s retirement, managed by his nephew.
On the farm’s surface (about 20 acres) are grown the typical tuscan crops and holm-oaks (Quercus Ilex). Part of the land is assigned to cereal and grain crops in rotation, whose cultivation is carried out in compliance with the Measure n. 6 of the Rural Development Plan (Piano di Sviluppo Rurale) providing for regulations and limitations in the use of chemicals so as to move towards an agriculture with a lower environmental impact. An excellent extra-virgin olive-oil, low in acidity and very genuine thanks to the location in a place well sheltered from parasite attacks and therefore barely needing any sort of treatment, is made from the olive grove consisting of typical local varieties such as Leccino, Correggiolo and Moraiolo. The vineyard (over 30.000 s.f.) is composed for over 70% of Sangiovese and 30% Merlot.
The owners, as local tradition demands, also grow a vegetable garden which supplies them and guests fresh and in-season produce.
The farm’s premises border on the land of the Istituto Tecnico Agrario “A. Vegni”, a popular agricultural school which for decades churned out expert and well-prepared agronomists trained in an absolutely outstanding environment. The boarding school, housed in a beautiful 19th century building, offers, in fact, its students first rate education, a large park, sporting facilities, a winery where important wines are produced and plenty of cultivated land to practice on.