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<\/p>\nHalf an hour from Poggio, where the hills of Bibbona look out toward Bolgheri, there is a field that turns red in August. It is the realm of Rita Salvadori, who since 2003 has devoted her life to a small, flaming fruit: the chili pepper.<\/p>\n
Rita comes from a family that has worked this land for more than three generations \u2014 extra virgin olive oil is the family memory, handed down by her father Franco. But one day she chose a different, spicier path: today Peperita is a small farm of six hectares, entirely organic and biodynamic, certified by CCPB and Demeter, where tens of thousands of plants grow each year. The collection counts more than two hundred varieties from all over the world \u2014 from habanero to naga, from the mildest to the most extreme \u2014 of which around forty go into production.<\/p>\n
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What won us over, though, is not the numbers. It is the way.<\/p>\n
At Peperita every fruit is picked by hand, one by one, at just the right point of ripeness. It is then sorted \u2014 again by hand, at the workbench \u2014 dried slowly at low temperature to preserve its aromas, and transformed on the farm: powders, salts, oils, preserves. The powders end up in elegant glass vials, each labelled with its variety and its degree of heat. It is farming made of patience and precision, from seed to table with no shortcuts.<\/p>\n
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It is the same idea of agriculture we cultivate at Poggio: organic, slow, made of gestures repeated with care. That is why Rita is one of our “amici di Poggio” \u2014 and why you will find her fire in the dishes at il Sal8 too, tamed just enough: a touch of warmth lighting up fire-grilled fish, an oil perfuming a seasonal soup.<\/p>\n
If you would like to meet her during your stay, the farm can be visited by reservation: an hour among the field, a tasting of the season’s varieties and the little farm shop. You will leave with a few vials in your pocket and a new idea of what heat can be: not a test of courage, but a nuance.<\/p>\n