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Val d'Arbia (DOC)

al d'Arbia is a name that holds a prominent place in Italian history. For it was in that valley, in September 1260, that the army of Florence fought one of the bloodiest battles of the Italian Middle Ages with the forces of Siena. The battle, waged at Montaperti between the Guelfs, who were masters of Florence, and the Ghibellines, who had been driven from the city and taken refuge in Siena, was described by Dante Alighieri in his Divine Comedy. Dante, a Guelf, remarked that "the tormented battle and the great slaughter dyed the Arbia red." The Ghibellines, having won the battle, gathered afterward at Empoli and proposed to destroy Florence. That plan was opposed by Ghibelline Farinata degli Uberti, who, exercising his authority, saved his home city from destruction. The area where the costly battle was fought is today a peaceful center of agriculture that is noted for its production of a premium white wine. The Bianco della Val d'Arbia is produced in 12 communes in the province of Siena and takes its name from that of the valley that borders and in places entends into the Chianti district. The Denominazione di Origine Controllata was granted quite recently--1986--during a special session of the National Committee for the Defense of the Denominations of Origin of Italian Wines. On that occasion, Professor Mario Fregoni, in discussing the Bianco d'Arbia, predicted that the wine would enjoy great success.

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