Paolo & Nina
For Paolo Mugelli, founder of Terre di Argillaia Winery, the winemaking passion started at an early age. Paolo was raised in Florence, Italy, 25 kilometers north of the historical Chianti region. He spent his childhood immersed in the culture of wine. His summers were spent with his family at the country home that is now the Estate of Terre di Argillaia and even as a young boy he was drawn to the vineyards and orchards. Under the tutelage of his uncle he got an early start on his career as a vintner. Paolo studied finance at the University of Florence and pursued a career in the financial sector but his passion for winemaking reigned and in 1985 he produced his first vintage from the land he has loved as a young boy. Since then he has worked his land with ardor following with up most respect the wine making codes of the Chianti Consortium to ensure his wine is of world class standards. His estate now boasts a sublime ten vineyards and he continues his ambitious winery expansion in concert with mother nature.
Nina Harrison was raised and educated in Boston, Massachusetts and spent her career in high tech software sales and marketing. She spent several early years at Oracle Corporation followed by a few software start ups. She was part of a core team that successfully took Vignette Corporation to an IPO in 1999 and since that time had spent the last several years as a marketing and sales consultant in the high tech field. “I like to say that I went from bytes to sips. I enjoyed a fabulous and most satisfying career in the USA as a sales and marketing software executive thinking in the end I would pursue a lifelong dream of retiring to Italy and mastering the art of “il dolce far niente” (the art of doing nothing). After a year down this path I realized I needed an outlet for the energy and passion I had in my past career. Fast forward to a serendipitous meeting in a little Tuscan town called Dudda with Paolo and the rest is history. I have found that the art of “il dolce far niente” will have to wait as I have great wines to share with my friends in the USA.”