Discover Chianti

The turning off the provincial road that heads down to the Argenna valley immediately forks: the left leads to Montecorboli, the right to La Ripa. Today Montecorboli is a group of farmhouses, but it was once a village, dating back to at least 1102, with a church dedicated to San Michele. One of the most densely populated places in the area, Montecorboli suffered the destruction of the Ghibellines after the battle of Montaperti. The town declined, and its church was suppressed in 1787 and has since disappeared. La Ripa also depended on the Church of San Michele. In the 15th Century it was a property of the Gherardini family. Documents of the Decima Repubblicana of 1480 and 1498 concerning the levying of tax, contain the inventory of goods of Antonmaria di Noldo Gherardini in which he declares ownership of a holding in “luogho detto Alla Ripa chon chasa da lavoratore” or “a place named Alla Ripa with a labourer’s house”. Two farmers ran the property: Lorenzo di Giovanni di Santi and Antonio di Domenico di Maggio. They kept a couple of oxen and were able to produce small quantities of grain, fodder, wine and oil. The Gherardini landlord also owned a farm with an olive press near San Lorenzo a Cortine, a small house within the Castle of San Donato and the hospital at San Giorgio alle Rose. Antonmaria Gherardini, member of a very powerful Florentine family, is known to posterity as the father of Lisa, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, better known as Leonardo Da Vinci’s Monna Lisa. The wedding between Lisa and Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy silk Merchant, was celebrated at the beginning of March 1495. For the bridegroom, widower of Camilla di Mariotto Rucellai, it was the second Marriage. Given the paltry nature of the bride’s dowry historians believe it was almost certainly a love match rather than the customary political marriage alliance.The bride’s father Antonmaria was far from well off; he was able to live off the income of his farms but forced to rent a house in the neighborhood of Santo Spirito in Florence, as he was unable to restore his own house, near Santa Trinita, which was in terrible condition. His daughter’s dowry consisted of the farm of La Ripa and 170 gold florins, which does not compare well, for example, to the 1400 gold florins of Maddalena Strozzi, who married Agnolo Doni, and was painted by Raphael.
Since 1940 La Ripa belongs to the Società Agricola Santa Brigida. Fattoria la Ripa has been producing, bottling and marketing its own products since 1968. The Chianti Classico DOCG and its Riserva; two IGT table wines: San Giovese and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and the San Giorgio alle Rose, made exclusively from Sangiovese grapes; a dry Chianti Classico Vinsanto Doc, aged in barrels for over ten years; a grappa with a distinctive smoothness; and finally, the Chianti Classico DOP extra-virgin olive oil. All Fattoria La Ripa’s products are organically grown. La Ripa is also an Agriturisrno with two apartments accommodating up to 8 guests.
Address: Strada Provinciale di Castellina in Chianti, 27 Barberino Val d’Elsa Phone: +39 055 8072948 Email: laripa@laripa.it Site: www.laripa.it

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