I “Sassi” di Castellina

La natura del Chianti di Castellina. Terreni sassosi, flora generosa che lascia intravedere la natura del paesaggio prima dell’intervento dell’uomo.

Chianina, from rags to riches

Ancora Carne, Giancarlo Vitali Val di Chiana used to be an extensive and unhealthy marsh until the hydraulic engineers working for the Grand Duke Leopoldo di Toscana drained the area. The drainage started by the mid half of the XIV century by the excavation of a complex system of canals and was finally carried out after more than four centuries. In the meantime the typical quadrangular farmhouses, with their peculiar dovecote, were projected and built.…

Marinated Sliced Steak

Recipe by Marzio Africh, chef at Osteria Fonterutoli (serves 4) 1 kg sirloin from Chianina beef Salt Pepper For the marinade 100 gr Fonterutoli Extra Virgin Olive Oil 25 gr chopped sage, thyme, rosemary, marjoram and mint

It all started in Fonterutoli

“I hereby give, on December 6 (1398), fiorini 3, soldi 26 denari 8 to Piero Tino Riccio, for 6 barrels of Chianti wine;… we pay the money by letter of Ser Lapo Mazzei.” At the end of the fourteenth Century, a respected and influential member of the Mazzei family, Ser Lapo, notary of the Lordship of Florence, a fine speculative mind and a major expert of vineyards, bought Chianti wines. Later on it was his…

From Fonterutoli to Val d’Elsa

A mountain bike ride through the woods of Chianti di Castellina. Length: 26 km Time: 6h 30 min (by bicycle) Stopovers: Fonterutoli • Croce Fiorentina • Malafrasca • Castellina in Chianti • Monsanto • Cedda We are going to suggest a route through a territory scarcely touched by humans which will make it possible to enjoy the most natural side of Chianti. Trained bicycle riders and sedentary car drivers alike will go though woods of…

A hamlet formed by many families

The hamlet of Fonterutoli and its castle narrated by Agnese Mazzei, architect, who was born here. Fifth-born child of Marchese Lapo and descendant of a Florentine family that, despite its business, institutional and cultural activities in Florence and in the rest of Italy, retains strong ties to this hamlet, which represents a point of reference, an identity, a dimension of the soul. A small village built in a nerve centre of historical Chianti, where first…

Antiche lettere di vino di Ser Lapo Mazzei

L’invenzione della cambiale, della lettera di credito, dell’assegno bancario e degli altri “strumenti di mercatura”, fu opera di un toscano, ommeglio, un facoltoso e illuminato commerciante e banchiere pratese. Il suo nome era Francesco di Marco Datini (1335-1410), uomo intraprendente che dal suo quartier generale di Prato governava un vasto impero commerciale che copriva l’Europa intera, dal Mediterraneo al Mare del Nord, alla costa atlantica. La storia della sua vita, dei suoi rapporti d’affari e…