I first heard of Montefioralle from a Florentine friend I met in one of the English classes I taught. He took me to take photos of this gorgeous town. I remember being memorized by this borgo.
The light. The cobblestones. The flowers. EVERYWHERE!
Then in 2011, I met a couple at the London School. They wanted private English lessons because they wanted to speak better. Why? Well they own a vineyard in....drumroll....Montefioralle. I couldn't believe this tiny little almost forgotten village had made it back into my life. Lorenzo and Manila were my students for probably a couple of months (don't remember), They invited me to visit anytime to their family run vineyard. Once I had the chance to (meaning someone with a car) that was the first place I asked to go. Stefano was that lucky person. :)
Since meeting Lorenzo and his family, I always wanted to find a way to keep coming back to this little hill above Greve in Chianti.
Eating our last meal in Montefioralle at La Castellana-AMAZING!
Last year I made it happen again. Chelsea from Wanderful Retreats joined me this past September. And did we ever enjoy our time. EVERY SINGLE SECOND!
Lorenzo greeted us with open arms and a bottle of my favorite IGT, EVER!
I'm counting the days until I see this beautiful and unique borgo again.
IGT Monteficalle 2018.
The history of this family run vineyard goes back to the early 60s. Renato Sieni retired from his professional life in 1964 and made an agreement with the priests, who were tending to the vines for centuries, to rent out the vineyard. Renato planted new vines and produced wine under the name "S. Stefano a Montefioralle". In those early years, he was making Chianti Classico to benefit the Santo Stefano Parish of Montefioralle.
Fernando, son of Renato who was working as an engineer at the time, developed a passion for viticulture and oenology at the end of the 1970s. Therefore, he started to dedicate all his free time to help his father with the winemaking and following the latest guidelines and innovations in the wine production sector. It was a period of renaissance for Italian wine.
In the late 1990s, the church administration decided to sell the farm. The Sieni family acquired it immediately. Thus grew into a full throttle family business with Lorenzo, his wife Manila, his sister Alessia and the patriarch, Fernando.
Their small vineyard has character and heart. I've since visited other small vineyards like Lorenzo's and I believe the smaller the vineyard, the better. The love is there. The passion is there. I can't get over it.
Montefioralle Winery taken from Borgo di Montefioralle
Do you want to experience this vineyard from the comfort of your home? No travel necessary.
LIVE Virtual Wine-Tasting on ZOOM.
Sunday, May 15th, 2022
11:30 am CST
12:30 pm EST
9:30 am PST
10:30 am MST
$159 per device
Join me and visit one of my favorite vineyards with my ex-English student Lorenzo. If you are at all itching to get back to Italy like me, this will tempt you to consider the Chianti region for your next visit.
With the purchase of this tasting, you'll receive three Italian recipes to pair with each wine.
Sign up at http://trulyitaly.tours/virtual-wine-tasting
"Da poi ch'io fui qua, ò asagiato più vini, e non truovo cosa che mi piaccia altro che questo che vi mando e parmi il migliore che ci sia...; e se dovete tor vino, cogliete questo che è sempre mai el migliore che ci sia"
"As I have been in this area, I have tasted many wines, and I cannot find anything that I like more than this that I send to you and that for me is the best there is…; and if you need to buy wine, pick this that is always the best one there is."
-Amedeo Gherardini wrote on 27 November 1401 from Montefioralle