Avignonesi launches Grounded, a public program dedicated to the relationship between agriculture, landscape, and community.

The first edition of Grounded – Radici Condivise, Futuro Comune took place last Saturday, June 6th, with which Avignonesi – a biodynamic winery, Benefit Corporation and B Corp – returned to open Le Capezzine as a meeting place and dialogue between agriculture, landscape and community, bringing together local producers, students, and industry professionals for an afternoon of discussion and conviviality.

Le Capezzine, an estate on the hills of Montepulciano and the beating heart of Avignonesi, historically originated as a place of training and research . Founded by Angelo Vegni in the second half of the 19th century as a model farm and agricultural education center, it has been a benchmark for the dissemination of agricultural knowledge in the Valdichiana for generations. With Grounded , Avignonesi has chosen to reactivate this public vocation , restoring the site to its role as a space open to dialogue and experimentation : a laboratory where producers, students, professionals, researchers, and citizens can meet and imagine new perspectives together, using creativity, agriculture, and culture to strengthen communities and build concrete responses to today's challenges. This choice is consistent with the identity of Avignonesi, which, as a Benefit Corporation and B Corp , has translated its desire to generate shared value into its bylaws and every production decision. This commitment finds its most concrete expression in biodynamic agriculture , but it extends to civil society.

" For us, wine is the starting point for a broader reflection on the relationship between agriculture, landscape, and community ," said Daniele Carlini , Chief Marketing Officer of Avignonesi. " With Grounded, we want to create connections between people and experiences that, despite operating in different fields, share a common focus on caring for territories and communities. "

After a guided tour of the vineyards and estate spaces, Marco Mearini and Iasmina Santini of the Vegni Institute opened the conversation by retracing the history of the site and the connection between education, agriculture, and local development. Following this, the Moleskine Foundation presented the Creativity Pioneers Fund , a global network that supports organizations committed to generating social change through creativity and culture. Born as a program to support independent cultural organizations, the Fund has now become an international platform that fosters exchange between organizations operating in diverse contexts but sharing the desire to address some of the major challenges of our time.

The panel featured three Creativity Pioneers: XFarm – Agricoltura Prossima described the journey that led a group of young professionals to transform land confiscated from organized crime in Puglia into an agricultural enterprise with an ecological and social focus. Tracanelupa presented the work developed at Masseria Infestante in Puglia, where cultural, educational, and participatory programs are used to combat the depopulation of inland areas and imagine new ways of life in rural areas. Terzo Paesaggio shared its experience in territorial regeneration through cultural practices such as Madre Project, which transforms bread into an engine of territorial regeneration, training people capable of creating businesses that generate value for communities and places.

Grounded is designed to become a recurring format : an event at Le Capezzine that will build a network of relationships between producers, researchers, chefs, cultural operators, students, landscape professionals, and civil society. The first edition demonstrated how an agricultural setting can once again become a space for culture and thought, capable of generating lasting connections between production, research, and the local area. The next event is already scheduled: on December 3rd, Avignonesi will host the Slow Wine Coalition meeting, confirming Le Capezzine's vocation as a recurring meeting place for those working for a more conscious, rooted, and community-oriented agriculture.

Avignonesi Avignonesi is one of Italy's most iconic organic and biodynamic wineries, nestled in the hills of Montepulciano and Cortona. A certified Benefit Corporation and B Corp since 2021—one of the very first wineries in Italy—the company integrates its commitment to generating shared value for workers, the community, the environment, and the local area into its bylaws and every production decision. B Corp certification is based on the B Impact Assessment, a performance assessment in five areas: governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. The wines, produced entirely from estate-grown biodynamic grapes , authentically express the local area and the philosophy that has guided the company's vision for years.