CEO Lorenza Sebasti On How Art, Wine and Terroir Connect at Tuscany’s Castello di Ama
Nestled in the picturesque hills of Chianti, Tuscany, just under an hour from Siena, Castello di Ama is a love letter to the land, blending wine production and contemporary art into a seamless and intimate experience that captures the “genius loci”—the very essence of this storied place. Curator Philip Larratt-Smith, who has long been part of the estate’s journey, sums it up in the book Growing and Guarding as “a microcosm of time, history, nature, and art. It embodies a contained and intimate space where nothing is monumental, grandiose, or exaggerated. Everything blends harmoniously with the landscape.”
One of the souls at the heart of this remarkable story is Lorenza Sebasti, an Italian wine and art enthusiast and collector who, driven by a profound passion for this land, moved to Ama after graduating with a degree in economics and business. Observer met Sebasti at the winery on a moody, rain-soaked January day when the vineyards were resting, preparing for the next production cycle. “It’s important for us to have this rain and even the snow,” Sebasti explained, her boots crunching on the estate’s gravel paths. “The wine is always the result of a series of natural phenomena throughout the seasons’ circle.”
Unfortunately, climate change has cast a shadow over even these idyllic hills, challenging vintners like Sebasti to adapt as rising temperatures and erratic weather impact both production levels and the quality of the wine.
Sebasti’s father, along with three partners, invested in the land in 1976 with the ambitious goal of restoring a once-prestigious 55-hectare wine estate in Chianti Classico to its rightful splendor. At the time, Sebasti noted, what they were doing was very different from what was typical in the winemaking industry at the time. “The culture of wine did not exist in Italy, and the Chianti was far from what it is known for today.” Back then, wine was generally appreciated in its simplicity by a modest audience—made by farmers without particular distinctions or qualifications compared to an established industry in France. “They wanted the wine to return to the quality it once had,” and there was historical precedent for excellence: Ama’s Sangiovese wine, described in an 18th-century book, was among the most coveted in the U.K., commanding a premium price. It was only in the 20th Century that war and the expansion of production areas diluted this legacy.
The group initially hired a seasoned oenologist from Bordeaux, who helped introduce more sophisticated methods of wine production, transforming Castello di Ama into one the most advanced wineries in the area. It became a trailblazer in Chianti Classico, with investments in modern agronomic practices, steel tanks, temperature control and spacious production facilities. Tragically, the oenologist passed away in a car crash, leaving his son to carry on the work. Despite his passion, his intermittent presence on the estate made it difficult to achieve consistent progress. This was the turning point for Sebasti, who moved to Ama in 1988 and gradually worked her way up to become the company’s CEO.
Another critical chapter unfolded in 1982 when Castello di Ama brought on Marco Pallanti, a young agronomist who had trained at the University of Bordeaux under the celebrated Patrick Léon. Pallanti proved instrumental in the Chianti Classico “revolution” that the estate helped spearhead. Drawing inspiration from French winemaking methods, Pallanti and the team began experimenting with blends, using non-traditional varieties to elevate the Sangiovese grape. This innovation led to the establishment of the cru concept, starting in the 1980s with selections such as “Vigneto Bellavista,” “Vigneto San Lorenzo,” “Vigneto La Casuccia” (from 1985), and “Vigneto Bertinga” (from 1988). By the 1990s, Sebasti and Pallanti, partners in both business and life, had positioned Castello di Ama as one of the foremost estates in Chianti Classico and among the most respected wine producers in Italy. “It was a journey made through courageous choices, often countertrend,” Sebasti reflected.
Today, Castello di Ama spans approximately 75 hectares of vineyards and 40 hectares of olive groves, employing over 60 people—a testament to its careful stewardship of the land. The connection between contemporary art and wine production emerged naturally, driven by Lorenza Sebasti and Marco Pallanti’s shared passion and rooted deeply in the estate’s unique sense of place. As their mission on the estate’s website explains, the artist takes on a role akin to the oenologist, tasked with engaging with and interpreting the “genius loci,” or spirit of the place, to reveal its essence.
Since the early 2000s, Castello di Ama has hosted a roster of contemporary artists, each invited to stay on the estate and connect with its distinctive atmosphere. These artists create site-specific works that join the Castello di Ama collection, enriching the estate’s indoor and outdoor spaces with layers of narrative and symbolic meaning. Unlike conventional corporate art programs, this initiative is a deeply personal and organic project, born out of friendships, complicity and genuine cultural exchange. Sebasti and Pallanti’s relationships with the artists unfold over time, built on shared experiences during their stays at Ama rather than transactional commissions.
Each artist is encouraged to capture and express the essence of Ama through their own cultural lens, aesthetic language and personal sensitivities without constraints or external influences. “When they come here, artists feel this special energy and are inspired by the wine, the territory and our story,” Sebasti said.
SEE ALSO: How Formafantasma Is Designing New Tools for Sustainable Coexistence
Sebasti first laid the groundwork for Castello di Ama’s art project in the early 1990s, organizing a series of cultural encounters and exhibitions with a local curator. “When I started living here, I thought I would open the villa and start having these meetings with artists,” she recalls. “I was trying to open opportunities for conversations that could go beyond the wine while creating a community around it. I didn’t want to spend all evenings only talking about wine.” It was a bold move, planting the seeds for what would later become one of the most distinctive art initiatives tied to a wine estate.
By 2000, the art project began taking shape as a series of permanent installations and commissions, marking a pivotal moment in its evolution. Sebasti and Marco Pallanti partnered with Galleria Continua, fostering an exchange of ideas and support that lasted until 2014. At that point, Sebasti made the deliberate decision to chart a more independent course, stepping outside the established art system to assert her unique vision for Castello di Ama’s relationship with contemporary art.
From 2014 to 2021, the project found new momentum under the guidance of Philip Larratt-Smith, an international curator and—above all—a close friend. Larratt-Smith played a crucial role in steering the estate’s continuous, visionary dialogue between wine and art, helping to cement its status as a place where creativity and the land are inextricably linked.
Today, Castello di Ama is a living art gallery, with artworks and installations by renowned contemporary artists. New commissions arrive every year, weaving modern art into the estate’s historic and natural surroundings. “The beauty of the collection is the artist came here and found a real place,” Sebasti said.
Outside, Daniel Buren’s twenty-five-meter-long, two-meter-high mirrored wall reflects the landscape, becoming one with the rolling hills. The play of reflections blurs the line between art and nature, grounding Buren’s intervention in the environment while amplifying its beauty. Nearby, Anish Kapoor’s luminous red circle transforms the interior of a small chapel, opening a mysterious portal that resonates with Catholic symbolism, tying in themes of wine and blood.
At the entrance to Castello di Ama’s ancient cellars, Michelangelo Pistoletto envisioned L’Albero di Ama, an open truck containing an angled mirror that creates endless reflections, infusing the space with light and evoking the infinite cycles of life. Deeper inside, a gridded hollow in the floor reveals Louise Bourgeois’s Topiary (2019), an androgynous marble sculpture exuding solitude and self-fertilization. Originally loaned to MoMA, Bourgeois ultimately donated the piece to Castello di Ama, declaring that the winery was a special place to which the sculpture belonged.
Chinese artist Chen Zhen’s installation of empty glass organs suspended in clusters from a cellar ceiling has a similar symbolic and psychological intensity. Conceived during the final year of his life before cancer claimed him, the fragile organs symbolize the vulnerability of the human body and the ways in which it is subject to organic processes. The haunting forms echo the wine barrels below, also vessels of transformation, drawing a parallel between life’s fragility and the alchemy of winemaking.
In another cellar, Kendell Geers’ red neon Revolution/Love (2003) glows with visceral energy, casting a deep burgundy light over the barrels. The piece, a clever wordplay that refers to the revolution occurring each season on the soil that allows the wine to mature and ferment, also relates to the transformative revolution of the vineyards spearheaded by Castello di Ama. “What attracts me to this work is that while it relates to the particular case of Castello di Ama, it connects and alludes more generally to every revolution,” Geers explained.
Other artistic interventions across the Castello di Ama estate include works by luminaries such as Roni Horn, Jenny Holzer, Lee Ufan, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Mirosław Bałka and Pascale Marthine Tayou. The latest addition is a work by Mexican artist Bosco Sodi completed last year—a group of spheric bodies made of clay reconnect with both the earth and the sky as a formal constellation of forms that manifest the gravitational weight and balance that rules on all entities.
As we chatted, Sebasti brimmed with excitement about an upcoming project. Italian artist Chiara Bettazzi is crafting a new cabinet installation for the just-restored Villa Ricucci, which will soon house a restaurant and a few guest rooms, set to open in late February. Sebasti was deeply involved in the production process, guiding the artist with psychological and emotional support, while Pallanti took the lead on practical problem-solving to bring their shared vision to life..
Among the most ambitious installations the estate has ever undertaken is an outdoor intervention by Italian artist Giorgio Andreotta Caló. Applying the principles of a camera obscura, Caló designed an underground cave where a small hollow in the ceiling frames the sky. Clouds drift across the aperture, their movements mirrored on the cave floor in a poetic interplay between the earth and the heavens. Sebasti describes the immense effort behind the project: excavating the hill, engineering a metal support structure and coordinating a feat of technical ingenuity. The result is a deeply moving experience, inviting visitors into the earth’s womb to feel an intimate connection with the land and the celestial elements that define the Chianti region.
Though Sebasti remains an avid collector, she has grown disillusioned with the art world’s accelerating pace, where personal exchanges between artists and patrons are increasingly sacrificed for market-driven expediency. Yet despite that, she stays engaged with contemporary art, albeit on her own terms. She now eschews large fairs and events, favoring quiet, meaningful encounters with artists and their work.
Eventually, as Sebasti admitted, art became the catalyst that inspired them to open the wine estate to visitors, transforming their vision and revealing that they could offer much more than wine alone. “At first, we were seeing all these works of art for us; it was never intentionally or strategically intended as a tool of branding and marketing,” she said. “Then, at one point, I realized that a broader public could enjoy the collection, so we started to organize guided tours twice or three times a week. Then people wanted to taste the wine, so we started structuring an entire hospitality experience.”
Five years ago, Castello di Ama opened as a restaurant, with the art serving as the foundation from which the estate could connect directly with consumers, telling its story without relying on agents or resellers. “We didn’t understand the importance of the public at the beginning, and we were not used to bringing our voices to the final consumer,” Sebasti said. “Art helped us rediscover that we already had a story and an experience to offer. It also saved us from a challenging economic crisis later.”
Even with this growth, Sebasti emphasized that the goal isn’t to scale up in revenue but to cultivate a more intimate and personal experience. For this reason, the estate offers only ten guest rooms and limits the restaurant’s covers. She was initially uneasy seeing the influx of visitors who came to eat and drink without truly engaging with the story behind the estate. Her focus now is on creating meaningful experiences, encouraging visitors to slow down, sip the wine and take the time to absorb the energy of Castello di Ama.
Looking ahead, Sebasti hopes this deeply personal story of passion for wine, art and land will continue for generations. Her son, who joined the firm four years ago, shares her enthusiasm and dedication to the estate’s unique universe. As Sebasti spoke, her love for Ama was unmistakable. “I feel Ama and live Ama fully,” she said. “Even after thirty-five years, I get excited about this place even more than our guests. It is so alive. It is like a creature.”