VIGNAMAGGIO, ONE OF THE PEARLS OF CHIANTI, HAS BEEN BOUGHT BY SOUTH AFRICAN CONTRACTORS (WITH FRENCH KNOW HOW): THE 13TH CENTURY ESTATE OF MONA LISA’S FAMILY HAS 42 ACRES OF VINEYARDS (TOTAL 160 HECTARES), AND HAS BEEN PRODUCING WINE SINCE 1404

One of the most beautiful villas in the Chianti Classico area, in Greve in Chianti, dating from the fourteenth century and built by the Gherardini family, the family of the famous "Mona Lisa" (Maria Gherardini was born in 1479 She became the wife of Francesco di Bartolomeo del Giocondo, hence the nickname "La Gioconda") has been bought by foreign investors. The historic Tuscan residence Vignamaggio and its 42 hectares of vineyards in Chianti Classico (160 hectares of land in total, of which 11 are olive groves) was purchased by a group of South African businessmen, for an amount not officially announced (but according to evaluations and expert estimates, could be around 30 million Euros, ed.) from the attorney Gianni Nunziante.

The attorney, in turn, had bought it from the Sanminiatelli family in 1988 and restructured the winery and vineyards. A historic change of hands, because the beautiful estate, as a document dated 1404 found in the archives near Prato and signed by Amidio Gherardini, dedicated to one of the most famous traders during the Middle Ages who lived between 1335 and 1410, has been producing wine for over 600 years. The estate has also been celebrated in films as it was the set for "Much Ado About Nothing" in 1993, and the official supplier of the Quirinal and the Senate of the Italian Republic, will be managed by the new owners with French "know how".

It is a magnificent estate that in addition to producing wine and oil also has a wine and food tourism activity and a restaurant. It is one of the pearls of Made in Italy and Chianti Classico and like others in the same category its beauty has attracted foreign investors.