he excellent quality of the wines of Scansano was a matter of common knowledge more than a century ago. Giacomo Barabino, in his report on the development of agriculture, industry and commerce published in 1884, observed that "the wines of Magliano, Pereta and Scansano are superb, and in some places they attain truly exceptional levels of quality."
The outstanding geological and climatic conditions found in the area have strongly favored the development of a flourishing vitivinicultural tradition. As early as the Middle Ages, feudal governors of the district recognized the necessity to devote suitable terrain to the cultivation of grape vines, and to assure their success by creating appropriate regulations.
The Statutes of Scansano, established a fine of two carlini to be imposed on anyone whose farm animals damaged a vineyard. According to official reports for the year 1812, 5,540 hectoliters of wine were produced at Scansano, with a large proporation classified as of superior quality.
In recent decades, wine making has become an increasingly specialized and refined activity in the area. The improvement effort was crowned in 1978, with the issuance of a Denominazione di Origine Controllata, and again in 2006, with the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, two events that definitively sanctioned the sensory virtues and the physical and chemical characteristics of Morellino di Scansano wine.
