“L’azienda ha origini che si perdono nella notte dei tempi fino al XVII-XVIII […]. Nel 1926 fu acquistata da Pietro Borsini che trasformò la Fattoria Montereggi in un’azienda d’eccellenza toscana. Ultimamente è il pronipote Giorgio Cavalloni che, insieme alla sua famiglia, porta avanti con passione ciò che il nonno gli ha tramandato, prendendosi cura di 15 ettari di vigneto e 44 ettari di uliveto. Tutti i vini presentati hanno un fil rouge che li unisce tra loro […]; questo grazie anche all’ottimo microclima e all’esposizione al sole dei terreni, nonché alla loro giacitura collinare e alla struttura argilloso-calcarea della terra.”
Guida Bibenda 2017
The name of Montereggi comes from the fact that the king of the Goths, Radagaiso, after having conquered all of northern Italy including a good part of Tuscany and thus Fiesole, lost a battle against the Romans and took refuge on the hill of Montereggi where it is said his treasure is hidden. The toponym Montereggi, in latin '"Mons Regis" (the King's Hill), derives from this legend and adds a certain fascinating mystery to the area where the farm is situated.
The farm was started in the XVII-XVIII centuries with a 300 hectare (ha) plot that due to subsequent divisions now covers an area of 100 ha.
At that time, it was subdivided into farmsteads of 10-12 ha, each worked by a peasant family, and was self-sufficient in the production of wheat and seeds, oil, wine, beef, pork and fowl meats.
The farm was purchased in 1926 by Pietro Borsini who understood the importance of its position in such a completely rural area so close to Fiesole and Florence.
After WWII, with Pietro Borsini's spirit of innovation and the strong determnation of his son Mario to turn Fattoria Montereggi into a farm specializing in the best of Tuscan products, vineyards and specialized olive trees were planted and an olive mill, no longer in use, was built, propelling the economic development of the area.
The first tractors and other agricultural machinery were also purchased, to the amazement and joy of the peasants; as Tonino, a peasant on the farm at the time, said: "I used to go many kilometers a day on foot to get to the fields for work and when Signor Pietro (the usual way Pietro Borsini was referred to) found out, he immediately bought a tractor because he said he didn't want to see me killing myself with work".
Work was organized in the typical way of the era, as mezzadria (sharecropping). When this was eliminated in the '70s, some sharecroppers chose to remain as such while the others became farm employees.
In recent decades, the Fattoria has renewed the production and transformation of its products to accentuate their quality and the terroir, and I, Giorgio Cavalloni, and my family intend to continue working on it with passion, adapting it to the 21st century by following in the footsteps of the generations before us and upholding their traditions.
When the WWII warfront reached Montereggi, still ruled by the Fascists, only the aged head of each peasant family on the farm was left on his homestead in the countryside while Pietro Borsini used his house in Florence to give refuge and protection to their families, thus saving them from the atrocities of war.
The difficulties and events of the period strengthened the bonds of mutual aid and compassion between Pietro Borsini and the peasants who, until their recently mourned passing, would fondly and gratefully remember the family of Pietro Borsini, the grandfather of my mother Silvia and her brothers.
Prima annata prodotta nel 1970. (…)”
Guida Bibenda 2017, 3 grappoli nell’annata 2014 e 2 bicchieri Guida Vini d’Italia del Gambero Rosso
Guida Bibenda 2017, 3 grappoli nell'annata 2014.