The Territory

A curve, a straight stretch and another curve: we are in the heart of Chianti, and the gentle slopes of the hills between Florence and Siena are straddled by ancient hamlets and solitary parish churches.

A land of ancient traditions, settled by civilisations in the most remote of times, even before the Etruscans – of which there is much evidence – and later occupied by the Romans.

Today, this land is considered particularly suitable for the production of high quality wine, and has been intensively cultivated from time immemorial, due to its favourable climatic and environmental conditions.

Indeed, the mild and healthy climate, the lush woods and fertile land have been settled by man since the second millennium before Christ, but it was the Etruscan civilisation which was first to really change the Chianti landscape, passing from animal husbandry to crops. It was the Etruscans who introduced the cultivation of the vine. They were succeeded by the Romans, who intensified agricultural development, beginning the cultivation of olives, whose oil they regarded as valuable produce which, in addition to its use as a foodstuff, could also be used to light their houses.

In the medieval era, Chianti was the site of continuous battles between the cities of Florence and Siena. It was during those days that many villages, abbeys, castles and fortresses rose up, some of which were later converted into homes.

Most of the architectural heritage of Chianti undoubtedly originates from that period. The rural villages rose up on the slopes of the hills, clusters of modest homes built around a church: many of these settlements have remained more or less unchanged over time.

Starting in the 18th century, with the agrarian revival in Tuscany, sharecropping became the main agricultural system of Chianti: most of the farmhouses and estates which still exist today date from that time.

The Chianti area, that is, the 70,000 hectares which extended all the way between the two provinces of Florence and Siena, today includes the municipalities of Castellina in Chianti, Gaiole in Chianti, Greve in Chianti, Radda in Chianti and parts of Barberino Val d’Elsa, Castelnuovo Berardenga, Poggibonsi, San Casciano in Val di Pesa and Tavarnelle Val di Pesa.

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