The Guicciardini Strozzi Estates have over 1000 years of history; in fact the oldest document which bears testimony to the existence of Villa Cusona, the winery’s most important vineyard, is dated 994 AD. It was amongst the green hills of Tuscany close to the famous medieval city of San Gimignano that the Villa Cusona rose from the ground. The famous personalities and the political and economic influence of the Strozzi and Guicciardini families, linked at various times by blood relationships, have left their mark not only on Tuscany, but also on Italy and Europe. Francesco Guicciardini, who started his career as Niccolò Macchiavelli’s secretary, was a prominent politician, a Governor of the Papal States, a philosopher and historian. He gained fame in particular with his fundamental work “The History of Italy” in which he describes the events in Italy between 1494 and 1532, a champion and precursor of the Unity of Italy. The Strozzis, powerful bankers, statesmen, mercenary commanders, were the great rivals of the Medici: exiled from Florence following the rise to power of Cosimo dei Medici, they built their huge fortune abroad (in Naples and Rome), which then paved the way for Filippo Strozzi, having returned from exile, to construct the magnificent Palazzo Strozzi, the supreme monumental testimony to the Florentine Renaissance. During the seventeenth century the descendants of the Strozzi & Guicciardini families were united through a marriage in London with the Marlborough family of Sir Winston Churchill. One should not fail to mention another famous ancestor, Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, better known as “La Gioconda” or “Mona Lisa”, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, and whose family is still represented by the fifteenth generation of descendants. Guicciardini Strozzi Estates is currently undertaking an innovative and ambitious project to enlarge the productive capacity of the company, focusing on 5 distinct wine growing regions in Italy: Villa Cusona in San Gimignano, Villa La Pavoniere in Bolgheri, Tenuta I Massi in Montemassi, Poggio Moreto in Scansano, and Coste di Kuddia in Pantelleria.
The Guicciardini Strozzi Estates have over 1000 years of history; in fact the oldest document which bears testimony to the existence of Villa Cusona, the winery’s most important vineyard, is dated 994 AD. It was amongst the green hills of Tuscany close to the famous medieval city of San Gimignano that the Villa Cusona rose from the ground. The famous personalities and the political and economic influence of the Strozzi and Guicciardini families, linked at various times by blood relationships, have left their mark not only on Tuscany, but also on Italy and Europe. Francesco Guicciardini, who started his career as Niccolò Macchiavelli’s secretary, was a prominent politician, a Governor of the Papal States, a philosopher and historian. He gained fame in particular with his fundamental work “The History of Italy” in which he describes the events in Italy between 1494 and 1532, a champion and precursor of the Unity of Italy. The Strozzis, powerful bankers, statesmen, mercenary commanders, were the great rivals of the Medici: exiled from Florence following the rise to power of Cosimo dei Medici, they built their huge fortune abroad (in Naples and Rome), which then paved the way for Filippo Strozzi, having returned from exile, to construct the magnificent Palazzo Strozzi, the supreme monumental testimony to the Florentine Renaissance. During the seventeenth century the descendants of the Strozzi & Guicciardini families were united through a marriage in London with the Marlborough family of Sir Winston Churchill. One should not fail to mention another famous ancestor, Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, better known as “La Gioconda” or “Mona Lisa”, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, and whose family is still represented by the fifteenth generation of descendants. Guicciardini Strozzi Estates is currently undertaking an innovative and ambitious project to enlarge the productive capacity of the company, focusing on 5 distinct wine growing regions in Italy: Villa Cusona in San Gimignano, Villa La Pavoniere in Bolgheri, Tenuta I Massi in Montemassi, Poggio Moreto in Scansano, and Coste di Kuddia in Pantelleria.
