Montepulciano: History, Food, and Wine

Montepulciano: Its History Through the Millennia

Legend attributes the founding origins of Montepulciano to the Etruscan king Porsenna, who is said to have moved here from Chiusi to escape barbarian invasions. Beyond the myth, archaeological discoveries confirm that the area was already inhabited during the Etruscan and subsequent Roman eras. The name itself seems to derive from the Latin Mons Politianus, likely indicating a hill owned by a Roman patrician family (the Politii). The first written documents officially mentioning the castle of "Montem Politianum" date back to 715 AD, during the height of the Lombard era. Starting from the 12th century, Montepulciano found itself caught in a fierce geopolitical vice. On one side was the powerful, nearby, and threatening Siena; on the other was Florence, further away but eager for an outpost to curb Sienese expansion. To preserve their independence, the locals (i poliziani) almost always chose to ally with Florence. This cost the village continuous sieges, destruction, and sudden reconquests. This cycle went on for over two centuries and worsened after Florence's defeat at the Battle of Montaperti. However, in 1511, after yet another rebellion and a brief Sienese interlude, Montepulciano definitively surrendered to the Florentine Republic and the Medici family.With its permanent entry into the Florentine orbit, Montepulciano ceased to be a frontier fortress constantly at war and transformed into a center of immense cultural and political importance. It was during this period that the village took on the elegant appearance we admire today. Cosimo I de' Medici sent the greatest architects of the era to Montepulciano to redesign the city. Artists of the caliber of Michelozzo, Baldassarre Peruzzi, and Antonio da Sangallo the Elder built the majestic noble palaces, the monuments of Piazza Grande, and the beautiful Temple of San Biagio. This fervor was not only architectural but also cultural: Montepulciano was the birthplace of Agnolo Ambrogini, known as Il Poliziano (1454–1494), one of the greatest humanist poets of the Renaissance, a close collaborator of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and the tutor to his children. In 1559, with the final fall of the Republic of Siena, the entire region was unified under the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Montepulciano lost part of its strategic military relevance but consolidated its role as an important agricultural, religious (becoming a bishop's see in 1561), and judicial center of the Valdichiana. In the 18th century, under the Lorraine dynasty, an immense reclamation project for the Valdichiana began. Led by engineer Vittorio Fossombroni, it cleared the unhealthy marshes surrounding the area, giving Montepulciano a fresh and highly fertile economic boost tied to agriculture and, naturally, to the production of its already famous wine. In 1860, via a plebiscite, the village became part of the Kingdom of Italy

The Magnificence of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

The connection with wine is as ancient as Montepulciano itself, tracing its roots back to the time of the Etruscans. The city's Civic Museum houses numerous wine vessels and artifacts found in the region, proving that viticulture was already a central activity back then. The first written document formally certifying wine production in Montepulciano dates back to 789 AD (the Early Middle Ages): a lease contract in which the cleric Arniperto donated a piece of land cultivated as a vineyard on the Poliziano hill to the Church of San Silvestro. During the Renaissance, the quality of the local wine was already so high and renowned that it was reserved almost exclusively for the tables of the nobility and the high clergy. In the 16th century, Sante Lancerio, cellarman to Pope Paul III Farnese, praised the Rosso di Montepulciano as "most perfect both in winter and in summer," describing it as a wine fit for gentlemen. The ultimate "advertisement" of the era arrived in 1685 thanks to the scientist and poet Francesco Redi. In his famous dithyramb Bacchus in Tuscany—a long poem in which the god of wine tastes and evaluates the region's wines Redi concludes with a verdict that has remained carved in history: "Montepulciano is the King of all wines!" Until the 18th century, the wine was known simply as "Vino Rosso Scelto di Montepulciano" (Choice Red Wine of Montepulciano). The designation "Nobile" (Noble) was officially born for commercial reasons and social prestige. The aristocratic families of Montepulciano did not just consume it; they produced it directly in the underground cellars of their palaces. It was the wine that nobles offered to illustrious guests or used as a precious diplomatic gift. The term was definitively codified in the first half of the 19th century to distinguish this exceptional production from the common wine intended for the general public. The Vino Nobile we know today was reborn and developed in the 1920s thanks to the intuition of producers like Adamo Fanetti, who relaunched its name at major national fairs. However, its true bureaucratic and qualitative triumph came in the second half of the century when Italy decided to regulate its fine wines. Thus, in 1966, Vino Nobile obtained the Denominazione di Origine Controllata (D.O.C.) status, and in 1980, it became the first Italian wine in history to be awarded the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (D.O.C.G.), the highest recognition of quality under Italian law. A portion of our Bolognami farm is located right here in Montepulciano. In these incredibly fertile lands of the Valdichiana, we produce the highly renowned Aglione (elephant garlic), one of the culinary excellences of Tuscany and all of Italy. We also grow famous and wholesome ancient Tuscan grains like Verna and Frassineto, which are perfect for making Pane Toscano D.O.P. (Tuscan Bread) and the famous Pici pasta a dish everyone tries to imitate and envy us for, but which originates right here, made exclusively with the flour from these grains.