History

It could be that the farmstead of San Polino was founded as early as the 10th century, following the Barbaric invasions that had forced the inhabitants of the Etruscan city of Roselle to seek refuge in the protective areas of the rich and powerful abbey of Sant’Antimo.

It was most probably in this period that the first vines were planted on the fertile slopes of San Polino.

In 1581, the farmstead of San Polino was registered as one of the properties belonging to the Montalcino hospital, Santa Maria della Croce, and it is here that we find the first explicit mention of the vineyard:

"...the farmstead of San Polino, with its house, its worked fields and woodlands, has a vineyard and there are, on this farmstead, six olive trees..." (original 1581 text).

Architecturally, the house is practically unchanged, both inside and out. Remains of the old furnaces can still be found on the edge of the forest, as can the old fountain, where in the past people washed their clothes and took water for irrigating their crops.

Today, the six olive trees mentioned in the hospital registers in 1581 still stand proudly in front of the house, and still produce the olives from which we make our San Polino extra-virgin olive oil.

In September 1989, Katia first visited San Polino. Bumping down a dirt road with her young son Daniel on her lap, she was immediately struck by a sense of recognition. This is how she describes falling in love with San Polino: 

“The most spectacular view opened up in front of us. The small dirt road led down between two uncultivated scrubby fields. Below us glimmered a soft glorious view of hilltops, like waves on a tide moving to merge with the Monte Amiata, clear and golden in the afternoon light. Then we saw the house, just there, as we see it now, but with none of the garden around it, overgrown, a tangle of brambles and tendrils growing over the front steps. And a heady scent, sweet, musky, entrancing. It felt like coming home.

Seduced by an outrageously gorgeous yet somehow intimate view over the valley, and the solid presence of the comfortable-yet-abandoned, well-loved, ancient house embedded in its sensuous ambience. I knew there and then, and will forever remember the moment: I can do this. This is home.

That evening I took our ramshackle, red Fiat 127 down to the station in Buonconvento to pick up Gigi. With Daniel bundled in his car seat at the back of the car and Gigi in the passenger seat, we drove to San Polino. We got there around 8pm, just before dark. The heady aroma of helichrysum worked its magic and he saw what I had. He got that Gigi-excited look. We were on.”

By the time Luigi Fabbro and Katia Nussbaum purchased San Polino the following year, the estate had long been abandoned. The farmhouse had no electricity or running water, and the land was overgrown but untouched by industrial agriculture. What they found was a rugged, pristine environment: thick with brambles, olive trees, and surrounded by unspoiled forests.

Luigi brought with him a way of seeing the world, shaped in part by his time in the Amazon forest, where he had been researching biodiversity and studying indigenous permaculture systems that regenerated soil fertility through composting and deep ecological integration. The philosophy behind these practices became woven into San Polino’s identity, guiding its early steps and ongoing approach to farming.

The first steps were taken slowly and by hand. With their young children, by their side, they began making olive oil. In 1998, they planted the first 300 Sangiovese vines, and in 2001 came their first vintage of Brunello di Montalcino. That debut wine received international recognition, winning multiple trophies and earning San Polino a place alongside the most acclaimed producers in the region. From that point, San Polino was firmly on the map.

None of this work was done in isolation. Katia and Luigi drew deeply from the traditions of Montalcino and the knowledge of their neighbours.  Their sons, Daniel and Giulio, grew up among the vines, alongside Avni (Alberto Gjilaska), who first came to help temporarily and never left - and without whom San Polino as it stands today would not have been possible. Avni’s brothers Mariano and Altin have been an integral part of San Polino for more that 2 decades. 

San Polino today is small, independent and family-run. With just 9 1/2 hectares of vines (5 of which are registered for Brunello di Montalcino), nestled among olive groves, hedgerows and extensive forest, the estate holds fast to the principles that shaped it from the beginning.

The work is still done by hand, with minimal intervention in both vineyard and cellar. A 1952 Massey Ferguson tractor, once the pride and joy of Luigi’s father, is still in use. 

The farmhouse remains the heart of San Polino: books stacked high, the kitchen alive with food and conversation, the walls steeped in stories. Upstairs is where the family lives; downstairs in the cantina, the wine quietly takes shape.

The land, like the philosophy behind it, is alive, changing with the seasons, responding to each year, and teaching those who tend it. The wines reflect this: complex, grounded, expressive. They carry with them the past, the place, and the people who call it home.

Rooted in change, the story of San Polino is one of continuity and transformation, of an ancient site renewed through vision, respect and ecological awareness.

Our San Polino logo is the replica of the Etruscan sun symbol found on an ornamental bronze belt buckle dating from 800BC. The buckle is large and oval and would have covered the lower abdomen of a noble woman or preistess.

The Etruscans worshiped the sun goddess, whose name was Catha. On this particular buckle the sun is depicted as being pulled across the ocean on a chariot by a water bird, probably an Ibis, towards the East, to its home, thereafter rising once more with the dawn.
We chose this symbol because of its beauty, because of the magic of using an image created by a local artist almost 3000 years ago, and because the power and movement of the sun is as important for us as winemakers today at San Polino as it was for those who worshipped it in the past.