races of vineyards dating back 3,000 years have been found in the area where this wine is produced. Vineyards and olive groves existed here in Etruscan and Roman times, but it wasn’t until the Middle Ages and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, that Pietraviva’s wine production reached its golden age.
At that time, the vineyards were located just outside villages and monasteries, since they required constant vigilance against theft and devastation of the crop. Then the most common grape was the Trebbiano, which agronomist Pier Dè Crescenzi described as, "white, round grapes, small but with many bunches." There was also a red Trebbiano that ancient chroniclers say was used to give a more intense color to the wine.
Under the Medicis, further growth of wine production in all parts of Tuscany was fostered. Particularly in the area around Pietraviva whose wine was loved by famous personalities of the time: Michelangelo, Ficino, Lasca, Luigi Alamanni and many others.
In a poem from 1650 entitled "Bacchus in Tuscany," Francesco Redi listed his favorite Tuscan wines, which included a Vin Santo Occhio di Pernice, and a Malvasia produced at Pietraviva.
Between the 1800s and the first half of the 1900s, the vineyards and farms of Pietraviva contributed significantly to the creation of the Chianti appellation, which has become one of the best known and most important names for wine lovers all over the world.
