The hills of Guardia Sanframondi hold a particular kind of quiet — the scent of earth mixed with a spark of possibility. When I met Filomena Iacobucci at Terre Stregate, I noticed immediately how she leads with both the patience of nature and a quietly determined imagination. In the hills of Guardia Sanframondi, at the heart of Sannio Beneventano, she moves with ease between the vineyard’s daily rhythms and a broader vision shaped by her time away. Her voice carries both roots and reach, steady and quietly powerful.
The Winery and the Land of the Bewitched
Terre Stregate, meaning ‘bewitched lands,’ rests among the gentle hills of Guardia Sanframondi, with views stretching over the Telesina Valley and the Calore River. The Matese massif stands quietly in the distance. The name calls up old stories of witches gathering beneath walnut trees, legends that still seem to linger in the air. The Iacobucci family has tended this land since 1898, beginning with Filippo Iacobucci. For a time, wine gave way to the olive mill, but in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Armando Iacobucci brought the winery back to life. Now, Filomena and her brother Carlo guide the estate. About 25 hectares are under vine, with Falanghina at the heart, joined by Greco, Fiano, and Aglianico, all rooted in clay-limestone soils at 400 to 450 meters. Just a short walk away, the olive mill lets visitors taste the land’s full spectrum, from grape to oil. Under Filomena and Carlo, the cellar, gardens, and tasting spaces reflect a place where tradition and thoughtful modernity meet.
A Wine of Bright Positivity
Here, with Filomena, I tasted the Svelato Falanghina del Sannio DOP 2024 for the second time this year, the first being at VinItaly this past April. The wine was as always bright and precise, alive with energy. Its freshness seemed to echo the clarity and confidence Filomena brings to her work. There is a kind of openness in both the wine and the woman behind it—a way of meeting complexity with light rather than weight.
A Journey of Distance and Return
That brightness, I realized, did not come easily. Filomena once dreamed of studying international relations, drawn to the ways farmers connect with the wider world. She left for university in Rome, hesitant at first to step away from the family winery. Distance changed her perspective. Seeing the estate from afar, she began to imagine new possibilities for Falanghina and for honoring tradition while building something modern and outward-looking. When she returned, she brought a deeper respect for the land’s timing and a quiet determination to help the project grow without losing its soul. Nature became her guide. The vineyard, unlike the city, asks for patience and the willingness to wait and respond. That blend of vision and daily patience shapes her leadership.
Respect for Time and the Act of Pruning
If there is one object that captures Filomena’s approach, it is the pruning shears. For her, pruning is the most important time of year—a practice that honors time, patience, and the careful decisions that shape the vineyard’s future. It is both practical and thoughtful: looking ahead while staying close to what the vines need right now. She speaks of a modern management style built on study and sensitivity. In her view, an entrepreneur is someone who sees what others might miss. Respect for nature is essential, but control is never absolute. That balance of vision and humility is at the heart of her leadership, a quiet strength that need not be declared.
Sensory Memory and Daily Grounding
For Filomena, happiness is woven into the sensory life of the land and its traditions: the scent of fresh bread from the bakery, the first taste of seasonal fruit, the olive harvest that arrives each November. Living in step with these rhythms, she believes, is at the heart of a good life. The oil mill’s closeness to the winery lets visitors experience that connection for themselves. When challenges come, she turns to music and the simple act of letting go. Together, softness and energy help her recover and return to her work with an open mind. In this way, resilience is not just an idea but a daily practice: feeling fully, releasing what needs to be released, and coming back to the work without losing either gentleness or strength.
Imagination for the Next Generation
She pays close attention to the pressures facing young people, especially her own daughters. For her, protecting dreams and imagination is essential, especially in a world that often feels rushed or demanding. Leadership, she believes, begins with the freedom to think for oneself. In summer, her children’s days are filled with outdoor play, rest, and the gift of unscheduled time. She sees this freedom as a way to help them grow into their own leadership. Her advice to the next generation is simple: be determined, trust your vision, and do not simply follow the crowd. Independent thinking and holding onto your own personality matter. She finds inspiration in Campania’s historical women, like the physician Trotula and the writer Matilde Serao, who connect past strength with future possibility. Their stories remind her that women have always shaped the life of this region, and that resilience is part of that legacy.
Labels, Symbols, and the Essence of the the labels at Terre Stregate are meant to spark imagination. Symbols like the eye and the moon appear—the moon guiding through the night, the eye inviting us to see our place in nature, connecting what came before with what is still to come. When I asked Filomena to describe her work in three words, she chose ‘powerful,’ ‘magic,’ and ‘dream.’ The words fit. They hold both the strength needed to lead and the sense of wonder that keeps the work alive, shaping how she shares her vision, her leadership.
Legacy Without Obligation
Looking to the future, she hopes to share the winery’s story and passion with her children, but never to force them onto a set path. She wants them to be part of daily life on the estate, so that curiosity, imagination, and determination can grow naturally, the way true leadership does. The inheritance she hopes to give is not a fixed career, but a living connection to the land and to possibility, along with the quiet understanding that strength can be gentle and lasting.
In the Space Between
In the bewitched hills of Sannio, where legend lingers in the limestone, Filomena Iacobucci leads with patience, determination, and clarity. She left to see with new eyes, returned with a wider vision, and now works to protect both the natural rhythms of the land and the imagination of those who will follow. Her resilience is a steady ability to hold complexity, to recover, and to move forward with care. Hers is a story of distance and return, of pruning and possibility, of power held gently enough to make space for magic and dream. And always, there is the bright Falanghina that first showed me that light, shared across a glass.