Once upon a time, the decisions leading to the creation of a vineyard tended to spring from a combination of love and a very personal vision.

It was normal to find all kinds of varietals growing in the rows of the old Chianti vineyards, and this obviously made everyone's wine different. I like to think that when the landowners of old laid out their vineyards, they tried to gather all the treasures they knew of into their plots of land. Hence we find the most diverse Sangiovese clones, as well as Green Canaiuolo and Red Stemmed Canaiuolo, both of which have almost disappeared. Among the white grapes, in addition to Trebbiano Gentile and Malvasia Bianca, we find Grechetto, Verdicchio, and, imagine! Even a little Semillon. And then, in the spots known only to the landowners, there were even wonderful table grapes.

At Montenidoli we still have these old vineyards, which are registered as Chianti. From the free-run must of the Trebbiano Gentile and Malvasia Bianca grapes we obtain Vinbrusco, the traditional white wine of San Gimignano's farmers. From all of Montenidoli's white grapes, including Vernaccia, we make Il Templare, whose highlights bring to mind the white wines of old, made by the Knights Templar on these very lands. In the various Canaiolo clones, which modern enology often finds "too light" and discards, we find the perfect fruit for our Canaiuolo Rosé.

The wines from Tradition:

• CANAIUOLO
  Created at Montenidoli, this wine from the Canaiolo varietal shows how much pleasure can be derived from an unrivaled rosé. It is the first wine we bottle each year because we want to preserve all its freshness intact.
  LABEL, HISTORY, AND FOOD-WINE PAIRINGS
• VINBRUSCO
  Traditionally, around San Gimignano the Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes from the Chianti vineyards were vinified together, and though they ripen after San Giovese and Canaiuolo the growers would harvest them at the same time. The result was an acidic, or brusco (brusque) wine. Now, since we pick our grapes at full ripeness, our Vinbrusco has become rich and savory.
  LABEL, HISTORY, AND FOOD-WINE PAIRINGS
• TEMPLARE
  From Vernaccia, Trebbiano, Malvasia Bianca, Semillon, Verdicchio, and Grechetto grapes. In other words, all the white grapes found in the old vineyards. Fermented in wood, they yield a wine that may even have been used for the Holy Mass by the Knights Templar who resided at Montenidoli long ago.
  LABEL, HISTORY, AND FOOD-WINE PAIRINGS