From Heroic Wines To Seaside Hotels, Giglio Reinvents Itself

BusinessFood & DrinkFrom Heroic Wines To Seaside Hotels, Giglio Reinvents ItselfByValentina Di Donato,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Focused on the intersections between culture, wellness and foodFollow AuthorJun 06, 2026, 12:07pm EDTCaldane Beach on Giglio Island Giammarco SicuroThe story of l’Isola del Giglio does not begin with disaster, and it doesn’t end with it either. So much more defines this island that, through centuries, continues to emerge resilient. One of the seven Tuscan islands, it has lived somewhere between hardship and grace, where survival often feels improbably close to something beyond.“What happened here was nothing short of a miracle. It was the hand that intervened to block the ship. It caused it to rest against that terrace, where the ship was later found. There were lives lost, but so many more could have been lost. It was a matter of a few meters, a miracle,” said Marina Aldi, a local of the island of Giglio and a tour guide.Marina is referencing the Costa Concordia shipwreck, which happened on January 13, 2012, off the coast of the island. One of the largest shipwrecks in recent history, and the miracle is that although there was loss, there could have been so much more.Giglio, one of the seven Tuscan islands, has always carried that tone in its history. Less known to foreign tourists, it is a place shaped by pirates and princes, by migration and agriculture, by endurance and reinvention. And, depending on who you ask, by the occasional miracle.The land itself seems unlikely. Granite pushes close to the surface, leaving only a thin skin of soil for anything to grow. And yet, vines have survived here for centuries. What locals now call vino eroico, heroic wine, feels like both a description and a quiet act of defiance.MORE FOR YOUAnsonica wine production by the Fontuccia WineryFontucciaIn recent years, that defiance has taken form through the work of the Rossi brothers, Giovanni and S...