Our story
Tenuta Sovestro: family hospitality in San Gimignano since 1962, with agricultural roots
Tenuta Sovestro is a working farm, winery and agriturismo in the hills of San Gimignano, Tuscany. Family-run for over 40 years, it is a place where agriculture, hospitality and a genuine connection to the land have always come first.
We grow our own grapes and olives, produce our own wines and oil, and welcome guests into the same estate where everything is made. That continuity – between land, production and people – is what makes Tenuta Sovestro different.
The Failli family and the history of Tenuta Sovestro
Our family
The estate belongs to the Failli family, who have chosen over the years to care for these hills without changing what makes them special. Hospitality has always been at the heart of our family, with Sergio attending hotel school and working in hotels while the estate was being prepared for its future as a welcoming place.
The roots of this place go back further than our family. Once the property of the Olivetan Friars, the estate passed in 1776 to the municipality of Colle Val d’Elsa. Even in the historical documents of that era, its agricultural vocation was well defined: vineyards and olive groves arranged across slopes facing south and north, a characteristic that still speaks to the deep connection between this land and what it produces.
For our family, it all began in 1962, when our great-grandfather Gianni, known as Brinchio, purchased what was then called “the farm at the S-bend”. He saw something in those hills: a place capable of shaping the family’s future.
For years, the estate was managed under a sharecropping arrangement. Then, in the 1980s, our grandfather Pode, together with our father Sergio and mother Lucia, began restoring the farmhouse with patience and determination. In 1985, Ristorante Da Pode opened beneath the family home. The response was immediate, and around ten years later, Hotel Sovestro followed.
Today Tenuta Sovestro is carried forward by the two sisters of the family, Alessia and Barbara, with the same care and passion that have always defined our work. We have been working in hospitality for over 40 years, always keeping the family dimension and a direct relationship with our guests at the centre of everything.
In 2017 we took the next step: we acquired the old Fattoria Sovestro, directly opposite our historic property, restored it entirely, and created what is now Tenuta Sovestro.
In 2025, sculptor Maurizio Masini created for our family the marble sculpture “Fontana simbolo della vita”, now placed in the estate’s park. For us, it represents not only an artistic element, but the value of time, continuity and the care with which we carry forward Tuscan hospitality and culinary traditions.
Our land in San Gimignano: 15 hectares of vineyards and olive groves
Tenuta Sovestro sits in an area historically devoted to the production of Vernaccia di San Gimignano. The landscape shifts with the light and the seasons: vivid green in spring, sun-baked in summer, transformed by harvest in autumn.
We work with local vineyards and olive groves surrounding the estate. Our wines and oils reflect the local terroir and seasons.
Today, the estate extends across 15 hectares of land, all cultivated directly by us. We produce:
- Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
- Chianti Colli Senesi
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Two types of grappa
Our products can be tasted at the estate or purchased through our shop.
Tenuta Sovestro: where farming and hospitality meet
For us, farming and hospitality are not two separate activities. One is the natural extension of the other. Working the land means respecting its rhythms; welcoming guests means doing the same for people.
The main farmhouse and its annex now house 16 rooms, each with its own character, architecture and furnishings, all with private bathrooms. Guests who arrive at Tenuta Sovestro enter a place that began as a working farm and opened to hospitality without losing its identity.
The tastings tell the story of what we grow. The family restaurant, Ristorante Da Pode – open for nearly 50 years – celebrates seasonal ingredients and local products, in direct continuity with our work in the fields.
A place to know, not just to visit
Our identity comes from the land and is reflected in everything we do. Guests can choose to stop for a tasting, take home products from the estate, or stay for a few days immersed in the Tuscan countryside.
It always starts from the same place: a family farm in Tuscany, working with care for what surrounds us.
Above all, that is what defines Tenuta Sovestro.
What They Say About Us
Discover Tenuta Sovestro through the words of those who have experienced it and seen it with their own eyes.
