Salvatore Ferragamo, CEO of Il Borro, also runs a small renewable energy company.
It’s a sign of the times: Ferragamo, the Italian clan known for putting its best foot forward, is training its sights on a new generation that enjoys experiential products that are environmentally forward to boot. On a recent U.S. visit, Salvatore Ferragamo, the grandson and namesake of the luxury goods company’s founder, extolled the virtues of Il Borro estate (ilborro.it), the family’s Tuscan hotel-winery-farm enterprise, as a carbon-neutral destination, center of organic farming and potential model for future endeavors worldwide.
“It’s an incredible project that has the cultural elements of a medieval village that is 1,000 years old, that has hospitality, farm-to-table restaurants and the production of wine, all with the philosophy of sustainability,” says Ferragamo, Il Borro’s CEO, over lunch. “The property qualifies as a negative carbon footprint program because we produce our own solar energy—three times as much as we consume.”
Wine is a chief product of Il Borro, a property purchased by Ferragamo’s father, Ferruccio, in 1993 as a family retreat. Today, 240 vineyard acres of some 3,000 acres devoted to sustainable farming yield 11 labels (with some available at wine.com). They include Lamelle, a Chablis-inspired chardonnay; Rosé del Borro, a salmon-hued sangiovese sparkler; and Il Borro Toscana, a merlot, cabernet and syrah blend. And, coming soon: a biodynamic wine of handpicked grapes sorted by fiber-optic technology, from vineyards plowed by horses (to avoid soil compression by tractors). The allure of Il Borro’s bottlings? Like the famous footwear, notes Ferragamo, “There is an incredible element of authenticity and creativity in the wines.”
The medieval village contains 38 suites in the Il Borro hotel, a Relais & Châteaux property.
Salvatore Ferragamo’s top 5 wines, in his own words
1 Il Borro Toscana 2015 Color, complexity and structure
2 Il Borro Pian di Nova Rosso 2016 Elegance, spice and smoothness
3 Il Borro Petruna Anfora Sangiovese 2016 Minerality, elegant fruit-forwardness, history
4 Il Borro Rosé del Borro 2018 Delicate, fresh, elegant
5 Il Borro Alessandro dal Borro Syrah 2011 Robust, intense, interesting spice, exotic
Il Borro Toscana, the first wine the estate produced, is 50% merlot, 35% cabernet sauvignon and 15% syrah.
Photography by: Marco Badiani/Flod
