Coltibuono Abbey

Badia a Coltibuono is about one thousand years old but its prehistory takes us back to Estrucan times and beyond.

As we know it today, Badia a Coltibuono (which means Abbey of the Good Harvest), dates from the middle of the eleventh century. In 1051 the monks of the Vallombrosan Order, a Tuscan reform of the Benedictines, founded the Abbey and also began planting the first vineyards in the Upper Chianti area.

Over the centuries they extended their vast land holdings to include many thousands of acres and developed a flourishing wine production and commerce.

In 1810, when Tuscany was under Napoleonic rule, the monks were forced to leave Coltibuono and the monastery was secularized.

The estate was first sold by lottery and then in 1846, Coltibuono was bought by Guido Giuntini, a Florentine banker and great grandfather of Piero Stucchi-Prinetti, the present owner. Under the guidance of Piero Stucchi Prinetti, the estate grew and built a solid reputation in Italy and abroad through the high quality of its products. Nowadays, his children continue the activities embarked upon by their ancestors.

After ten centuries of uninterrupted agricultural tradition, Badia a Coltibuono still uses organic production methods to safeguard its natural assets. Its philosophy of environmental sustainability has made it the first leading wine-producing firm in Chianti to have reached this important objective. This “healthy viticulture” choice has also helped to further the aim of making the wines more distinctive and unique, as an expression of the place and its tradition.

At Badia a Coltibuono man has made himself at one with nature and has succeeded in producing one of the most famous wines in the world while respecting the environment, its people, the seasons and the rhythms of nature.