Florence has its first modern urban vineyard, planted by hand on a northeast-facing hillside beside Piazzale Michelangelo and the Iris Garden, with views across the Arno to Brunelleschi’s dome and the Fiesole hills. The vineyard has not produced wine since the Middle Ages.

The woman behind it, Maria Fittipaldi Menarini, has just published a memoir, Pensa che fortuna (“How lucky am I”), that reads more like a novel than an autobiography. Released in November 2025 by Gruppo Editoriale, it traces a life that moves from Swiss boarding schools and prestigious Florentine family homes to Tuscan vineyards, setbacks, and reinventions.