Battitura del Grano

Header image Battitura del Grano

Threshing wheat is an ancient ritual in Tuscany and at Renzo Marinai we carry it out with our ancient Capelli wheat variety over an entire day each year, with plenty of help from locals and visitors alike.

Our aim with our wheat is to maximise quality and respect tradition so we use vintage machines for the threshing, and these are really the only tools for this job, given that the ears of this wheat variety can grow up to 1.8 metres high.

We use a fascinating tool for the threshing, an ancient steam-powered engine from the early 1900s, called a Ruston locomobile. It powers the threshing machine itself, which is another reconditioned vintage apparatus that separates the grains from the rest of the ear.

On our San Martino a Cecione estate, there are still folks who remember what a festive event the annual threshing day was. The ritual carries on now as it did a century ago, the sounds, the smells, the excitement the same today as in distant days.

Today, the tired bodies, the aching arms and the eyes gleaming with emotion give us a feeling of privilege that we are taking part in such a historic event.

And after the toil, we make wonderful bread and pasta with the flour ground from our wheat.

These artisan products are truly the fruit of our labours.