TUSCANY

Tuscany, the homeland of the Etruscans, has been settled since the Neolithic. The Etruscans first settled here deep in prehistory and occupied the region between the Arno and the Tiber by the 10th Century BCE. Etruscan civilization, one of the first great civilizations of Italy, reached its technical and artistic peak in the 8-7th Centuries BC. The region was conquered by the Romans in the first Century BC and became part of the core territories of the expanding Republic and then the Empire. Occupied by the Goths as Rome fell, the region grew to become one of the richest and most important regions of Italy during the Middle Ages, and, under the Medici, became the fountainhead of the Italian Renaissance. An independent Grand Duchy through much of the Middle Ages and early Modern period, it was finally incorporated into the newly (re)forming Kingdom of Italy during the Risorgimento in 1861.

The region’s rolling hills have been prime agricultural lands for millenia, and the region is best known for its wines based on variants of the native Sangiovese (blood of Jupiter) grape.

montepulciano

One of Italy’s iconic hilltop villages, Mondepulciano (Monte + Publicianus, Publius’ Mountain) is located at about 2000ft elevation surrounded by vineyards and olive groves. First settled in the 4th-3rd Centuries BC, it later hosted a Roman garrison protecting the region’s important trade routes. Today it is a largely agricultural, viticultural and tourist town famed for its Vino Noblie di Montepulciano, produced from the local variant of Sangiovese known as Prunoglo Gentile.

Established in 1966 as a DOC, Nobile di Montepulciano was recognized as a DOCG in 1980. The vineyards cover about 2650 acres, producing some 500,000 cases of wine. Nobile di Montepulciano doc regulations include:

• Minimum 75% Prunoglo Gentile

• Maximum 5% regional white grapes

• Vineyard elevations between 820 and 1970ft

• Minimum 2 years ageing before release including minimum 12 months in barrel and minimum 6 months in bottle (3 years total, same 12/6 minima)

de’ricci

The Ricci family of Tuscany dates from 1150. The family name dates to one Riccio De’Ricci, who was almost burned as a sorcerer by observing the local hedgehogs (hedgehog is riccio in Florentine Italian) to accurately forecast the weather.

Palazzo Ricci, one of the most beautiful Renaissance palaces of Montepulciano, was commissioned by his descendent Cardinal Giovanni Ricci in 1534 and completed in1562.

The Palazzo and cellars underneath are built upon Medieval and even more ancient foundations descending deep into the mountain under the Palazzo, all the way down to passageways that exit into the lower town and incorporate primeval rock-hewn tunnels and that provide year-round, constant-temperature air circulation.