Cantine Leonardo da Vinci was established in 1961 upon the initiative of the owners of thirty farms who decided to join forces so as to tackle the problems brought about by the breakdown of the crop-sharing system. This co-operative gathered its first harvest in 1965, followed by production of the wine and its sale by the barrel. In 1971, the direct marketing of two bottled products began: a white, Collebello, and the Leonardo Chianti. This red is still part of the range of wines produced today. In the following years, encouraged by its success, Cantine Leonardo da Vinci decided to broaden the range of wines, focusing its attention on bottled products in general and on quality wines in particular.
The original headquarters, restructured and enlarged, are still the operative centre today. Cantine Leonardo is situated in the borough of Vinci, just five kilometres from the birthplace of the world famous artist and inventor Leonardo.
The co-operative takes its name from the great man, paying homage to the mind of the man who was universally recognised as a genius and to emphasise its deep-rooted bond with the territory, the same bond which Leonardo felt and whose surname is specifically associated with the village where he was born on 15 April 1452.
Today, Cantine Leonardo da Vinci is a pioneering co-operative, innovative and modern, which relies on the work and grape production of its 160 members.
In the hills of Vinci, in the Montalbano area in Cerreto Guidi, Limite and Capraia the land expresses and recounts its time-honoured vocation: vines, olives, wine and oil.
Optimal environmental conditions favour the cultivation of vines and the production of grapes ideal for making wine. Nature, left to its own, does the rest, enabling these vines to offer an excellent product. A generally mild winter of rainy periods alternating with sunny spells, a wet spring and hot, dry summer, cooled by brief showers provides the perfect climate for bringing the grapes to the right stage of maturity.
Cantine Leonardo vineyards are scattered over a sufficiently vast area, so as to guarantee the ideal environment for the different types of vine species which are grown. The vineyards are situated mainly in the hills, in the boroughs of Vinci, Cerreto Guidi, Capraia e Limite, Gambassi Terme, Montespertoli and elsewhere.
Cantine Leonardo da Vinci counts on about 500 hectares of vineyards, dominated mainly by Sangiovese, alongside Merlot, Syrah, Canaiolo, Trebbiano and Chardonnay.
By limiting the fruit yield per plant, Cantine Leonardo da Vinci has succeeded in improving the quality of the grapes. The vineyards generally tend to face south so as to ensure the greatest exposure to the sun and thus encourage full ripening of the grapes.
Improving the quality of the grapes means improving the quality of the wine. The excellent work of the members of the co-operative in the vineyard is continued in the cellars where the wine is made, aged and bottled.