Hugo and Bernard were related, and both from wealthy families: The former was born in Champagne and the latter in Burgundy, and like all youths they were full of energy and drive. In those years of the first century after the year 1000 currents of mysticism, spirituality and daring eddied among the more generous souls, while there was a revival of trade and travel, and communications improved.

In 1115 Bernard, a young Benedictine monk, founded a community at Clairvaux, which in a few short years attracted enthusiastic followers from throughout Europe, and soon dotted the Continent with its Cistercian monasteries.

In 1118 Hugo, a Count of Champagne, and nine friends of his formed a Christian militia in Palestine and gave the Patriarch of Jerusalem his vow to renounce the world and protect the pilgrims who traveled unarmed to the Holy Land. They lived in a wing of King Baldovino's Palace, which was built on the ruins of Solomon's Temple, and were therefore known as the Knights Templars.

In 1128 Bernardo and Ugo met at the Council of Troyes, where the Order of the Knights Templars gained official recognition. Their swords were voted to the service of the Cross, to protect the pilgrimage routes from the incursions of the Saracens. In remembrance of their brother monks their cloaks were white, while they adopted a red cross to indicate their willingness to shed their blood. The Rule of the Order was dictated by Bernardo, who based it on that of the Cistercians: it included vows of chastity, poverty and obedience to His Holiness, the Pope. Thanks to gifts and inheritances the Order's wealth increased rapidly, and they used it to help the needy.

For two hundred years the Knights Templars spread throughout Europe and the Mediterranean, guarding the roads that led towards Rome and the Orient.

San Gimignano was a way station in the Middle Ages and guards many traces of these Knights who combined prayer and the martial arts. They were expected to attend Mass every day, and certainly took communion with the wines of the Pliocene soils that form Montenidoli.

If the wine they took at Mass and enjoyed at their tables was white, it couldn't but come from the grapes that have been present in this region since time immemorial, and which were, then as now, vinified and aged in wood: We want to introduce this ancient wine to the Third Millennium.

FROM THE RULE DICTATED BY SAN BERNARDO OF CHIARAVALLE

The Rule Saint Bernard of Clairvaux gave his monks and the Order of the Knights Templars directed that they "drink wine according to necessity to defeat the cold." Each had the right to determine how much wine to drink each day to counter cold: coldness of body, coldness of heart, coldness of spirit.

Food-Wine Pairings: Salmon, eel, stoccafisso, baccalà, tuna, sweet-and-sour dishes, and fried foods.

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