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The property of Cusona has a thousand-year history: the oldest document about it dates back to the year 994. Today, the property covers some 1.309 acres and stands out among the green Tuscan hills, facing the famous medieval church of San Gimignano, in Siena, and its imposing towers.

The Strozzi family, powerful statesmen and bankers as well as the biggest rivals of the Medici, and that of the Guicciardinis have contributed to making this estate, but also all of Tuscany, famous all over the country.

In the XVII, century the descendants of the Strozzi Guicciardini family got married to the Marlboroughs in London, the same family of Sir Winston Churchill. Among the illustrious ancestors of this Tuscan family, there’s also Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, also known as “La Gioconda” or “Mona Lisa”, portrayed by Leonardo da Vinci.
The current members of the family are the actual fifteenth generation.

In 1850, the construction of a large cellar, with several underground tunnels, began in the Cusona Estate and in the early XX century Francesco Guicciardini (married to Luisa Strozzi, mayor of Florence and Minister of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs) made Cusona a “model company” of national importance
In the 1970s, Prince Girolamo Guicciardini Strozzi began marketing wines around the world: he still runs this business together with his wife Irina and two daughters Natalia and Irina Jr.
In 1999, he also started the expansion of the wine business in Tuscan Maremma, Bolgheri, Scansano, Montemassi, and Pantelleria. The latter new vineyards were planted with with “Moscato d”Alessandria” next to the Kuddìa Mida volcano, in the heart of the island.

The Cusona estate also includes the hunting reserve of Tenute Guicciardini Strozzi, one of the most beautiful in Tuscany, which covers more than 1.300 acres. This vast hilly area at about 984 ft above sea level features a humid microclimate and soil made of sand and clay, typical of the lower Val d’Elsa Senese.

In this area, woods and vineyards alternate, while wildlife is present all year round. Thanks to the microclimate and the soil, the wooded portion is also one of the richest in Tuscan white truffle (Tuber magnatum Pico) of the Crete Senesi.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)