A Personal View

I bought Ripertoli in 1988, as the culmination of a 20-year love affair with Italy, and with Tuscany in particular. I bought it with the help of local Italian friends, and with the advantage of knowing the Chianti region well and knowing where I wanted to buy to within 10 miles. Deborah and I rent it out when we are not there because the income helps us to spend more on improving and restoring the estate, and because a family home like Ripertoli should be lived in as much as possible.
 
Ripertoli is a 1000-year-old farmhouse with its own secluded 40-acre estate 20km south of Florence and 10 minutes from both Greve-in-Chianti and Panzano. There is over an acre of well-irrigated park and garden, a beautiful large swimming pool, several acres of well-tended olive groves (where Deborah and I pick the crop every November and make our own extra-virgin olive oil), 25 acres of woods which ensure privacy, and a marvellous family team which takes care of the whole Ripertoli estate as though it were their own, plus a squad of builders, plumbers, electricians, JCB-owners, stonemasons and painters, whose enthusiasm for the place rivals ours.
 
Would you enjoy a holiday at Ripertoli?

Not if you want nightclubs, the seaside (it's almost 2 hours away), or a posh "Villa" with a formal butler and attendants who will tell you how to behave. Basically Ripertoli offers 2 things, and I hope some combination of the two will suit you:

• A beautiful rural Italian environment, with glorious views, every home comfort that we can think of, wonderful flora and fauna, and delicious local produce and restaurants. It has enough separate buildings and open spaces for different age groups to have a perfect family holiday without falling out over taste in music or the right time to go to bed.
• A convenient base (in the heart of the region where, not by coincidence, the Renaissance happened) from which to explore Florence, Siena, Pisa, Arezzo, San Gimignano, Volterra, Montepulciano, Montalcino, and many more.

There seem to be 2 approaches to a stay in Ripertoli. Some people spend most of the time relaxing and reading by the pool, and shopping in Greve. Marisa often cooks for them 4 or 5 nights a week. The challenge is having a car big enough to bring in adequate supplies of chianti every day.......But they also visit Florence occasionally, often (very sensibly) returning to Ripertoli for a 2 pm lunch and a swim, something not easily available in hot mid-afternoon Florence.
 
Other guests are out of the property by 9 every morning, on their way to the Uffizi, the Accademia, Carmine, Siena, Pisa, San Sepolcro and the rest of the Piero della Francesca trail ..... until they return for supper at 8 pm.
 
If you've read this far, you might think Ripertoli has something for you. Golf, tennis, horse-riding, and wineries which will welcome you for a tasting are all within easy reach - but the same is true in many parts of the world. But there is something special about the Tuscan landscape which delights the eye and inculcates peace and tranquillity. If you think that might be your thing, then consider Ripertoli - even in this beautiful region, it is recognised by the locals as being exceptionally well situated and organised.
 
By the way, I am (among other things) a professional rock/pop musician, having led my own band The Dark Blues for more than 40 years. I brought the band to Ripertoli in September 2005 to play 2 concerts in the public squares of Greve and Panzano..... and the Mayor asked us back to do it again for the Festa del Vino in 2006 and 2008. Ripertoli's standing in the local community has never been higher!
 
Nigel Tully