For those who live under the sky, cultivating their hills with vines, the day of St. John the Baptist remains one of the most sacred of the year: it represents the great promise that the Sun has kept, when on December 25th it was “reborn” from the darkness of autumn, to then accompany us in a triumphant ride up to the moment of its maximum expansion, the summer solstice. While the peasant tradition wants that in the evening the Fires of St. John are lit, among the infinite suggestions offered by Rudolf Steiner there is also the one that mentions fireflies. According to the great anthroposophist, around the 24th of June these small insects begin to flash their little lights to remind men how the Earth would appear to those who observe it from the cosmic distances on solstice days: a great warm light that lights up the universe. Men who “light up” like fireflies and glow in space?

In Steiner’s poetic vision, the Earth “exhales” all that it has breathed in during the months of darkness. And this would also happen to our own interiority: it’s as if we too would become shining beings, immersed in the absolute fullness of the maximum solar light. Reflections that Sergio Marchisio lets decant every year, under the Sun of vineyards, celebrating the seasonal triumph of sunshine. He knows well that the great cycle of the year, with its variety of seasons and the metaphysical meanings that can be tied to solstices and equinoxes, offers to modern man the possibility to strengthen the ancestral bond, timeless, between the individual spirit and the “soul of the world”, which is also expressed through the generous fruits of agriculture. And what other fruit, if not wine, has the magical power of keeping in itself the best of the whole seasonal cyclicality, giving all the nuances of its “experience”, from the months of snow to those of harvest?

Those who love Steiner know that this «is the moment to immerse oneself in living nature, blossoming together with the flower, budding with the plant, fruiting together with the tree». In the midst of this sea of light, it’s as if the spirituality of nature, that which every archaic culture has always perceived, were coming towards us. It’s a “toast of Sun”, the one Sergio Marchisio gives himself in these days, he who based the natural growth of his wines on Steiner’s teachings, starting from the eco-sustainable management of vineyards, certified organic and conducted according to the strictest dictates of biodynamic viticulture. A lesson: so in Heaven, so on Earth. The correspondence between astronomy and agriculture is very close: as if stars, planets and the moon were orchestrating – under the careful direction of the sun – the perfect success of every vintage. And there is no need to add that the current one looks to be one of the best: at Marchisio’s house, 2021 will certainly be a year to be framed. Even the Sun says so, now shining high in the sky of St. John’s.