Complete guide to buying a vineyard in Tuscany

Italian cities and towns have seen their appeal grow considerably since the pandemic: among the many reasons – besides the beauty of the area – are the country’s innovative flat tax and the fact that, after the lock-down, remote working opportunities have increased remarkably, allowing people to work wherever they want.

Pre-emption on agricultural land

Buying an estate with an annexed vineyard or that includes agricultural land is the dream of many potential buyers, but the transaction may be subject to a pre-existing right of pre-emption. Buyers in Italy have the right of pre-emption on agricultural land, i.e., the right to be preferred over other people when the owner decides to sell their property. So, once the land is put up for sale, a few steps are needed to figure out if someone will be able to take advantage of the proposed sale before others or if it will be placed on the market via regular channels.
What are the conditions to obtain this advantage?
The right of agricultural pre-emption belongs to:

• the farmer or agricultural company renting the land in question if they have been renting for at least two years;
•  farmers or agricultural companies who own neighbouring land. This second option is null if an independent farmer or agricultural company is under rental, as described in the previous point.

 

Agricultural pre-emption is only implemented in the event that the object of the sale is land, called a rustic property or simply property, which can also include one or more buildings, provided that they are intended
solely for the performance of the agricultural activity taking place on the land itself. In order for this right to be exercised, the landowner must communicate the proposed sale via registered letter to those who work there under rental, or to neighbours, depending on who has the right of pre-emption. The beneficiary of this right has one month to exercise it and, if they accept, they must pay the price indicated by the seller within three months. If there is no interest by any of the parties contacted to come into possession of the land, then things can proceed with the regular sale.

Planting a vineyard from scratch

 

It may happen that the property one would like to buy does not have (or no longer has) a vineyard on its arable land. With the right timing, one can easily start it from scratch: let's see how.

 

Once the land has been acquired, the first step in starting a vineyard is to request the related permits from the competent public authority as soon as possible, because it can take a few weeks, if not a few months. Once the authorisations have been obtained, vines can start to be planted on the portion of land considered arable, but not before having dug the soil and equipped it with a suitable irrigation system. The methods of soil preparation and irrigation should be chosen based on the type of soil. Vines can live even more than 50 years depending on the conditions in which they are maintained, so it is good to pay the utmost attention to every detail.

More specifically, what are the steps to follow to best prepare the land that will host the vineyard? It all depends on the characteristics of the soil at the start of the works: depending on how it has been used previously (or left bare), for example, it may be necessary to first remove any stones. If another type of cultivation was present on the land to be turned into a vineyard, it is necessary to uproot the remaining plants to completely restore it to its original state and prevent possible infestations, for example fungi. Once the soil has been "cleaned", the next steps involve ploughing and fertilisation. 

 

 

 

 Tuscan style: what people like about the Tuscan countryside

 

Owning an estate with a vineyard in Tuscany means living in or using a building constructed in the typical rustic Tuscan style, featuring aesthetic elements so popular abroad that they are often reproduced. An example is the USA, where it is increasingly likely to come across houses made with stone, terracotta and marble elements and even the typical Tuscan barn-style "mandolato". In addition to the aesthetic style chosen for the construction of the buildings, another characteristic element of Tuscan influence is the presence of arable land around the house or farmhouse: these buildings in full Tuscan style are always correlated by a vineyard or an olive grove. 

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