Region: Tuscany

Zone:

Pietraviva DOC

Pietraviva (the name for a special, local lime or ashlar stone) is a relatively new DOC (2005), and the appellation is located in the Arezzo province in the eastern part of Tuscany, and includes the Bucine, Cavriglia, Civitella Valdichiana, Montevarchi and Pergine Valdarno comuni.

They’ve found traces of vineyards dating as far back as 3,000 years. The vineyards and olive groves have existed since the Etruscan and Roman times.

It was first in the Middle Ages, under the Arch Duke’s domain Tuscany, that Pietraviva’s wine production reached its golden age. At that time, the vineyards’ were located right outside the villages and nunnery, since it required constant surveillance to prevent theft and destruction of the harvest.

The most common grape at that time was Trebbiano, and lawyer and agronomist Pier Dé Crescenzi (1235-1320) describes them as ”white, round grapes, small, but with many bunches.” There is also a red Trebbiano, which writers at that time say was used to give the wine a more intense color.

Under the noble family Medici, wine production in all areas of Tuscany increased, but especially in the area around Pietraviva. The zone’s wine was loved by famous personalities of the time, including Michelangelo, Ficino, Lasca, Luigi Alamanni and many others.

In a poem from 1650 with the title ”Bacchus in Tuscany”, doctor and researcher Francesco Redi (1626-1697) describes his preferred Tuscan wines, and the list includes a Vin Santo Occhio di Pernice and a Malvasia produced in Pietraviva.

Between the 1800s and the first part of the 1900s, Pietravivas was one of the great contributors to the creation of the Chianti appellation, which must be said to have been a success and one of the most important names for wine lovers across the world.

Pietraviva’s grapes range from the typical Tuscan to the international grapes, and interesting varietals are made from the majority of the grape types. There are 12 different types of red and white wines in the zone.

Read more about the wines from Pietraviva DOC by clicking i the top menu in the right side.