The estate came into being in 1994 when the Gritti family from Venice decided to head south to Umbria and invest in land in the area known as the "Valle del Niccone (Umbertide, Molino Vitelli and Perugia), and bought an agricultural concern called "I Girasoli di Sant'Andrea" (St. Andrew's Sunflowers). Although involved in tobacco cultivation, sown crops and the production of DOP Colli del Trasimeno extra virgin olive oil, the Estate's main focus is on wine production.
40 hectares of vineyards were harvested last year, and a total of ten varieties of grape were picked. Merlot accounted for the largest share of the reds, but there were plenty of Sangiovese, Montepulciano, Malvasia Nera, Ciliegiolo and Syrha too. Whites, on the other hand, include Tocai Friulano (Savignon Vert), Grechetto, Malvasia Bianca and Trebbiano.
Respecting the terroir - as land that is home to wine-producing vineyards is known - nature, honest hard work and utilising non invasive wine-making processes that themselves respect the three preceding factors, form the foundations on which the Gritti Estate stands and which are combined with a desire to come up with new products through experimentation.
The Estate is also proud of the herd of Chianina and Limousine beef cattle raised on the lush green pastures of the Valle del Niccone and fed on fodder grown elsewhere on the estate. Our in-house butchery, in the very capable hands of Marco, prepares the meat for the table, which is then sold direct to the public and used in our Estate Restaurant, managed by the equally capable and knowledgeable Eric. The last remaining element in the Estate's business comes in the shape of a market garden of some 10,000 meters, conveniently located just next door to the restaurant and produce grown is also sold direct to the public
Having the different sectors on site - home-grown cattle, the butchery, as well as oil and wine production and vegetables, all of which complement each other, means that the GIRASOLI DI SANT'ANDREA is effectively a closed-circuit distribution line in which the restaurant acts as the final collection point of all that the estate produces.
