THE CHARM OF FARMING TRADITIONS: ANTIQUE AGRICULTURAL TOOLS
AT FATTORIA DEL COLLE, NUMEROUS OBJECTS TELL THE STORY OF THE COUNTRYSIDE’S PAST AND OF THE OLD-TIME WINEMAKERS WHO – WITH GREAT TTALENT BUT LIMITED RESOURCES- CREATED MASTERPIECES.
By Donatella Cinelli Colombini, winedestination, Fattoria del Colle (Trequanda), Casato Prime Donne (Montalcino)
Let me start by saying this: I believe in technology and machinery serving nature. I have weather stations in my vineyards, I use an optical sorter to discard imperfect grapes during the harvest, and I use a peristaltic pump to move the wine—a piece of equipment originally designed for blood transfusions that is so gentle it is even used in fish farms to transport live fish. All this to say that I am not someone who longs for the past.
However, I encourage wine estates that welcome visitors to preserve and showcase antique farming tools, even if they are kept separate from the machinery currently in use. My aim is not to disparage fermentation halls filled with stainless steel and electronic sensors… but rather to show where we come from, and the sheer amount of work, talent, and dedication poured in by the generations that came before us. I carry in my heart the pride of a grape grower who grew up when rural folk were considered second-class citizens—a pride that compels me to declare: “I am not ashamed; on the contrary, I am proud of it!”
THE “CENTIPEDES” AT CASATO PRIME DONNE
I apologize for this long-winded explanation, but it was necessary to clarify why my cellars are teeming with pumps, de-stemmers, and tools from a century ago… They are visible everywhere. Some have taken on a purely decorative role—such as the iron “centipedes” that were once dragged by oxen through wheat fields and now hang in the entrance of the Casato Prime Donne Brunello cellar. They share space with plaques explaining the name Montalcino—meaning “Mount of the Holm Oaks,” a contraction of the Latin “mons ilicei”.
PRESSES, DESTEMMERS, A WEIGHBRIDGE, AND LARK MIRRORS
Unlike the Casato estate, the Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda was not a ruin; it had storehouses and attics filled with old tools. As my restoration work progressed, most of these items were cleaned and put on display. The sheer volume of them is enormous. I assume this stems from the substantial investments made by my great-grandfather, Livio Socini, when he acquired the farm out of bankruptcy in the early 20th century. An engineer—a pragmatic man fascinated by innovation—Livio purchased the best agricultural machinery the market had to offer, bringing in equipment for grain, olive oil, and wine production from Northern Italy.
I found two seed-sorting screens over six meters long that I wanted to hang in the cellar, but unfortunately, they were too large. They came complete with wooden bins of various sizes and jute sacks stamped in red with the initials “LS.” A grape crusher-destemmer and an old press have found a home on a mezzanine level in the cellar. Also in the barrel room, tucked into corners that serve an almost decorative purpose, are various hand pumps and a cast-iron pump. In the cellar entrance stands the weighbridge—an antique scale that is still functional. We didn’t recover all the weights, so precision is limited to whole kilograms rather than decimals, but we can still weigh tourists just as grain was weighed a century ago.
Among the displayed items are some truly curious objects, such as the “lark mirror.” This consists of a small wooden arch that, when operated by a hand-crank mechanism, reflected sunlight to lure the birds in.
THE OLD OIL MILL PARK AND STONE MILLSTONES CONVERTED INTO TABLES
A small park in front of the Villa del Colle is dedicated to the remains of the oil mill—metal frameworks and stone millstones—mounted on the perimeter wall. Other granite discs have been transformed into tables and are placed throughout the gardens. There is also an old press, complete with its wooden cage and the lever used to press the pomace. Finally, the farm’s main parking area is surrounded by antique agricultural implements, such as ploughs and harrows. We also have two wooden wagons of the type once pulled by oxen; one is suspended in the barrel cellar, while the other—a gift from our truffle hunter, Patrizio—is in storage, awaiting display.
Unlike many places where old objects were discarded because they were no longer needed, Fattoria del Colle preserves many traces of its past, which certainly adds to its charm. Come and see them—you’ll love them.