Source: Badia a Coltibuono
BADIA A COLTIBUONO
Toscana, Italy
Once a place of prayer and renewal, Badia a Coltibuono has embraced modern ideas of hospitality whilst preserving the historical beauty and atmosphere of this ancient monastery.
It’s not hard to see why the storied Badia a Coltibuono Winery – with its 11th-century Romanesque monastery, exclusive on-site restaurant and immaculately lush botanical garden – is a highlight of any Chianti wine tour. But this proud family winery is famed for more than its history and romantic atmosphere. Badia a Coltibuono make premium wines with estate-grown, organically produced grapes. Their wines are considered to be some of the most iconic Chianti Classico wines.
The Badia a Coltibuono estate (which translates to “Abbey of the Good Harvest”, an apt nomenclature if there ever was one) was founded by Vallombrosan monks in the 11th century and immediately became a center for wine production. Over the centuries, the monks amassed hundreds of hectares of land, but when the monastery was secularized in 1810, the government seized all the monks’ holdings and auctioned them off.