DEFINED THROUGH CENTURIES OF HISTORY…

The Tenuta di Monte-Ficali wine estate is situated in the ‘Alta valle della Greve’ (high valley of the river Greve), in the heart of the Florentine Chianti Classico, 30 kilometres to the south of Florence. The name of our farm comes from the nearby, hilltop, castle-village of Montefioralle, known in the 10th century as ‘Castrum Monte-Ficali’. The origins of the town were as a fortified monastery and garrison town from 931 AD and it is probably one of the most ancient and best preserved in Chianti. Still to this day it is enclosed within its original walls and is in the register of the “most beautiful medieval villages in Italy” (www.borghipiubelliditalia.it).

During the early middle ages it was one of the largest military and administrative centers of the area, and it is first mentioned in a document from 1085 where it was shown to be owned by Florentine noble families of considerable importance, the Ricasoli, Benci, Gheradini and Vespucci families. Despite being such a small village (nowadays numbering only 100 inhabitants), the history of Montefioralle and the immediate area reverberates through many centuries and internationally. A member of the Ricasoli familiy, Baron Bettino Ricasoli, originated the official formula for Chianti wine in 1872, which remained in place for over a century. Lisa Gherardini, is none other than the Mona Lisa herself (painted by Leonardo Da Vinci only a few kilometers away from Montefioralle), Amerigo Vespucci was the cartographer who accompanied Columbus on his voyages of discovery, and after whom the continent of the Americas is possibly named. Nearby is the Castle of Giovanni Da Verrazzano: great XVIth century explorer (after whom the Verrazzano bridge of New York is named) who ended his days eaten by cannibals on the island of Guadaloupe! The castle village of Montefioralle is very much worth a visit and has remained entirely unspoiled throughout the centuries.

The Gardners own a historic trattoria in the village (il Guerrino) and in the secret, extremely panoramic gardens of the restaurant lies the entrance to a centuries-old wine cellar where our wine estate has its headquarters and tasting rooms. In terms of significance as an area of wine production, the lands that comprise the sub-zone of Montefioralle were within the boundaries of the area delineated in 1716 by Cosimo de’ Medici as Chianti, and later as Chianti Classico.

The producers in this area were the only official producers of Chianti and, the wines were marketed by the Florentine merchants at home and abroad as wines of distinction.