Tenuta San Guido reopens Padule di Bolgheri Wildlife Refuge, birthplace of the WWF, to the public

In the beautiful, wild, and unspoiled nature nestled between the sea and the hills of the Upper Maremma, next to some of the world finest vineyards, there are 80 hectares of seasonal freshwater marshland, fed exclusively by autumn and winter rains, and over 440 hectares of lowland forests, wet meadows, pinewoods, dunes, cultivated fields, and natural pastures. This is home to more than 250 bird species, including the Eurasian spoonbill, purple heron, ferruginous duck, great bittern, and marsh harrier, as well as the European pond turtle, Hermann’s tortoise, crested newt, beech marten, porcupine, and wolf. This is Rifugio Faunistico Padule di Bolgheri - Padule di Bolgheri Wildlife Refuge, an integral part of the historic Tenuta San Guido, the “cradle” of Sassicaia, an icon of global winemaking which brought fame to the region, and, which, after years of scientific monitoring and environmental conservation, reopens to the public in all its splendor, offering guided experiences focused on direct observation, the importance of biodiversity, and ecosystem conservation (from November to April). But also to tell the story of how the unique environment of this special oasis laid the foundation for the birth of Wwf Italy. The credit goes to Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, the “father” of Sassicaia, who, in 1959, some years before the wine market debut (1968), when the wine produced by the marquis was still produced for family consumption only, and drunk only at the estate, decided to dedicate part of his estate to a protected area, creating Italy first private wildlife refuge. The initiative was later formalized by Wwf Italy, of which Incisa was a founding member and later Honorary President. “in the beginning, there was Bolgheri, then Wwf Italy came”, said co-founder Fulco Pratesi.
According to Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, as it is known, wine was initially just a passion, and, alongside his love for nature and biodiversity, his great interest was horses: long before the birth of Wwf and the creation of Sassicaia with great enologist Giacomo Tachis and his wife, Countess Clarice Della Gherardesca, he partnered with Federico Tesio, one of the most important breeders of thoroughbred horses in Italy and internationally, which raced under the colors of the Dormello-Olgiata Stud (still active today at Tenuta San Guido). Tesio died in 1954 and never saw what many consider the horse of the twentieth century: Ribot, a true Italian “athlete of the century”, according to a famous poll by “La Gazzetta dello Sport”. Later, with Bordeaux leading and the dream to create a “thoroughbred wine”, his experiments with French grape varieties in Bolgheri, strikingly similar to the Graves region, led him to plant Cabernet to produce a Bordeaux-style wine in Maremma: something that noone ever thought about, and, which, refinement after refinement, became what we now know as Sassicaia.
The Refuge, still among the symbols of Wwf today, is located within the 2,500 hectares of Tenuta San Guido, stretches along the coast between Donoratico and Cecina, and borders inland with the famous Viale dei Cipressi, which, as described by the great poet Giosuè Carducci in his poem “Davanti San Guido”, “tall and straight go from San Guido in double rows”, and which were planted in the 19th century by Count Guido Alberto della Gherardesca, who chose them not only for their beauty but also for their practicality, as buffaloes would eat all other plants. Today, they symbolically represent Bolgheri and one of the world most prestigious wine territories. “The Refuge represents the deepest root of the bond between Tenuta San Guido and the surrounding nature - explains Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta, head of external relations at Tenuta San Guido, and, who, together with her father Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta, one of Bolgheri “noble fathers” and the man behind Sassicaia success, is a guardian of the land which produces these great wines -  arises from the same principle which guides our work in the vineyard: observation, respect, and balance. Biodiversity is the living foundation of our territory’s identity and its ability to regenerate”.
The complexity of the habitats - recognized by the European Natura 2000 directive as a Special Area of Conservation (Sac) and Special Protection Area (Spa), and by the Ramsar Convention (since December 19th, 1977) as a Wetland of International Importance - makes the Padule an area of extraordinary biodiversity and a true laboratory of coexistence between agriculture and the environment, where man id part of a balanced ecosystem. The agricultural practices adopted at the estate - from the cultivation of grasses and nectar-producing plants to the maintenance of hedgerows and wet meadows - promote biodiversity and support the life cycles of many species. In collaboration with the Tuscan Ornithological Center (Cot), and under the supervision of expert naturalists, the estate supports and conducts research and monitoring activities: annual bird censuses, studies on amphibians, reptiles, beetles, and butterflies, water and soil quality analyses, and observations on habitat resilience. Daily management of the Reserve also includes concrete conservation actions, such as restoring flooded areas, building small bridges over canals, setting up nesting sites for European rollers and other birds, and collecting plastic and waste from the shoreline, where driftwood and seagrass are left to help prevent erosion. “The richer an area is in species, habitats, relationships, and interactions, the more resilient it will be  - explains Matteo Tamburini, ecosystem management plan coordinator and head of educational activities at Tenuta San Guido -  with these new initiatives, we want to offer people, especially young people, the opportunity to observe and understand biodiversity up close, so that responsibility for the land becomes part of our everyday culture”.
And to tell a story, like the one passed down through generations at Tenuta San Guido, of love for nature and for a territory, that of Bolgheri. that, in the last century, gave birth to one of the strongest horses of all time, one of the most important and enduring environmental organizations in the world, and one of the greatest wines ever made.