Antonella Manuli: Fattoria La Maliosa

Tuscany, Italy

fattorialamaliosa.it, @lamalsiosa

I am 60 years old born in Milan, Italy, married, and mother of two grown children. 

During my childhood in “The Lead Years”, a name derived from the lead of the bullets, life was heavily affected by terrorism. Bombings, shootings, and kidnappings were happening with almost daily frequency.  That prompted my family to relocate to Switzerland, also for personal safety issues. From then on, natural unspoiled environments became a necessary refuge for me, even to the present. I lived as an expat until I was 23 years old when I came back to Italy, in the meantime getting my bachelor's degree in business administration from SJSU in California.

I am first of all a woman entrepreneur, with a professional path that began in the economic and corporate fields and continued for ten years in the hospitality sector at the Terme di Saturnia Spa Resort in Maremma Tuscany. Precisely during this period, I fell in love with the place and around the mid-2000s I conceived the idea of the sustainable agricultural project that would later become La Maliosa.

When I founded Fattoria La Maliosa my goal was to enhance the original characteristics of the hilly Maremma. I was the first to launch a sustainable agricultural project in this area of Southern Tuscany, to see the potential of the uncontaminated environment and to have healthiness and sustainability as pillars.

La Maliosa, for me, is linked to the place and the products that best represent it, wine and olive oil. It is the idea of a new possible world, in the belief that a different idea of agriculture can exist, more respectful of nature and people.

Thanks to the encounter with the agronomist and researcher Lorenzo Corino, since 2013 I have developed and consolidated a series of highly innovative agronomic techniques for an ever greater sustainability of wine and olive oil production, now codified with the name “Metodo Corino” (registered patent and trademark).

With Lorenzo Corino I also collaborated on numerous cultural dissemination and training projects, including as editor of his book “The Essence of wine and natural viticulture” and as co-author of the essay “Vegetal Biodynamics, the Future of natural wine”, published by the Istud Foundation – Mondadori University.

Since his passing in Nov 2021, I took over the agronomic management of the farm, rigorously standing by Metodo Corino principles, particularly regarding the conservation of the Biological Soil Quality (BSQ index), the cultivation of ancient varieties of the Tuscan Maremma area, such as the Procanico dating back to roman times, and the preservation of polyculture in the unspoiled environment of the farm.

I also try to be an advocate whenever possible about viticultural and agricultural systems that are more respectful of biodiversity, soil life, and people involved at all levels and functions

Social Justice and Environmental Preservation Statement

I live and work by the 3 “P’s”

Place: conservation of historical landscapes and soil life biodiversity

People: respect legal rights and contracts, hire workers from diverse social and ethnical backgrounds, support young women’s careers within the farm, educate about more sustainable methods of production and individual responsibility

Planet: protection of a healthy environment for future generations