94 Act III / Poggio al Tesoro, the Men and the Women 95 Act III / Poggio al Tesoro, the Men and the Women year in the entire time we have been working in Bolgheri; in addition, we had launched Franco into the fray when things were already well under way. But he never became either disheartened nor demoralized and immediately took on the challenge, resolving problems even sooner than we had anticipated. This made an excellent impression on me and gave me the sense that we had finally found the right man for the job, for managing the vineyards of the estate». The trio, the driving force behind Poggio al Tesoro - Marrico, Nicola, and Franco – seem well matched with one another and very much on the same wavelength, something which becomes immediately evident as soon as discussions begin with one another. Marrico Toni is a sort of general director, one whose task is to balance everything and to coordinate all the organizational aspects of the estate’s work. And it is for this that he already feels the estate as somehow his as well. «I have been here for four years now, a mere breath of time in the life of a property, but the intensity with which I am living this experience leads me to consider Poggio al Tesoro my second home; indeed, at times, even my first. The lovely thing, however, is that even though we are dealing with a heavy commitment, it is not in any way a burden and this thanks to the enthusiasm and to the ability to get us involved which Marilisa succeeds in communicating to us on a daily basis. With my two trusty companions in this adventure, Nicola and Franco, with whom I share the largest responsibility for the estate’s work, there is much common feeling and we are complementary from the point of view of our personalities as well. There is a ten year age difference between me and Nicola, who is the youngest of the group, and the same difference also exists between Franco and me; we are now each at a phase in our individual lives which enables us to get along very well with one another. Nicola is a dynamic and ambitious person, even a times a bit impulsive and “stubborn”, though obviously in a positive sense; Above: Marrico Toni Next pages: The early morning sun on Merlot between us there have been sharp and strong differences of opinion between us, but there has always been a real dialogue, frank, clear, and sincere – a style of communication which we share - and we have always resolved our differences and found, together, the best solution for Poggio al Tesoro. Even if, truly speaking, we have never found ourselves in a situation of irresolvable conflict, given that we have the same approach to our work. Franco, of us three, is unquestionably the calmest and most reflective; in this sense I would say that he is the opposite of Nicola, he is endowed with a great sense of humanity and with him, effectively speaking, there has never been significant conflict, we have regularly found ourselves in agreement. Personally I feel that I occupy a midway point between the other two; by now I feel that I have achieved a certain balance, above all in my relations with my two colleagues. I am, so to speak, a bureaucrat, I like to define myself jokingly one who organizes and arranges the paperwork. Before coming to Poggio al Tesoro I worked at the Confagricoltura of the province of Livorno, an association of cultivators; my contact with the world of wine was not, accordingly, a direct one, I was not immersed in wine on a daily basis. For me, therefore, it has been a constant discovery which has shown me the true face of the countryside, the importance in this world of certain details which previously had seemed to me mere routine. I have had the good luck to find two persons such as Nicola and Franco who, between themselves, as is proper for their roles which they have in the estate’s work, are continually in contact with a systematic exchange of ideas, discussions of their working experience. And yet, though both are highly competent professionals, they involve me in questions concerning the vineyards and the cellar, listen to my opinions, and consider it important to hear an ‘outside’ point of view, less technical and perhaps based on other considerations. The world of wine is an interesting one, full of life and color, but often you encounter persons who are looking for the limelight, behave like superstars, but this is not the case with Nicola and Franco, who work with passion and commitment behind the scenes, make a fundamental contribution, but let this emerge only in the final product, in the wine and its quality».
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