Days follow the work, and the work follows the season.
Pruning in winter. Vintage in early autumn. Olive harvest in late autumn. Grain in summer. Truffle in season. There is something happening in the soil every month. This is the year as the estate keeps it — work in motion, what is on the table, and the small set of days on which the door is open to people not yet of the estate.
The Twelve Months
January
The grove and the vineyard are pruned, slowly. Soil work begins on the valley fields. The cantina is quiet; the new vintage is in barrel. On the table: oil from the autumn, soup, bread.
February
Pruning continues. The first long, clear afternoons begin to come back. The mill runs through last summer's grain in small batches. On the table: new oil still, ribollita, slow lamb.
March
The short, decisive window. Planting decisions are taken. The vineyard begins to wake. Soil work finishes. On the table: the last of the winter cooking, the first of the spring greens.
April
The grove and the vineyard come back to life. New leaf, first flowers. Buildings under restoration return to work after the wet months. On the table: artichokes, broad beans, eggs.
May
The estate finds its summer shape. Long days begin. Wine at Five settles into its rhythm in the evenings. On the table: the garden in full early voice.
June
The vineyard sets fruit. The grain begins to turn from green to gold. The kitchen garden is at its most generous. On the table: tomatoes coming on, peaches, basil, the first of the new garlic.
July
The grain comes in. Long, dry, hot days. The mill prepares. The cellar is quiet. On the table: bread from the new flour within the week.
August
High summer. The grain is in the barn. The vineyard is finishing its work. The estate slows for the heat. On the table: the garden at full stretch, cold soups, oil from the year before still good.
September
Vintage. The cantina runs. Picking is set by the fruit, not by the calendar — dates are decided week by week. The mill turns through summer's grain. On the table: the cooking moves toward the cellar.
October
Vintage finishes. The grove begins to turn. The first new oil is expected late in the month. On the table: porcini, the first of the chestnuts, dinners that run long.
November
Olive harvest in full. The frantoio runs day and night. New oil on the table within hours of the press. Truffle season opens. The cantina is quiet now; the new vintage is in barrel. On the table: new oil on warm bread, the first truffle.
December
Olive harvest finishes. The estate gathers. The cellar is at its quietest of the year; the work has moved indoors. Truffle continues, variable, honestly. On the table: the year's oil at its freshest, slow cooking, long lunches.
There is something happening in the soil every month. Most of it is not for sale.