Antinori in the Chianti Classico

The Antinori family is originally from the Val di Sieve, where they owned some castles in the Middle Ages.

With the wars between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, they had considerable damage in the countryside and decided to move to Florence where the most prominent families of the entire agricultural countryside had converged for more than a century. The first known houses of the family are in Via de 'Serragli, a street that has recently become part of the city within the walls.

In 1285 we find Filippo and Chiaro Antinori among the members of the Silk Art: they were among the protagonists of the incredible success of Florentine silk in the European markets, and founded the corporate branches of Bruges and Lyon.

Between 1336 and 1340, the most economically profitable years for the city, the Antinori family had started a business company that was among the most important in Florence. The heads of the families Lippo and Piero Antinori were at the head of this enterprise which produced strong earnings and which also managed to save itself from the tragic chain of bankruptcies that had led to the closure of the banks of the Bardi, the Peruzzi and, in a chain, other businesses.

At the same time as the economic rise, the political one also manifests itself: public offices such as those of prior or standard-bearer for many of its components arrive, who always stood out for their prudent conduct and political good sense.

With the passage of power from the republican to the grand-ducal structure, the family nevertheless remained on good terms with all the members of the ruling class, benefiting from the good administration which saw in the Antinori some of the most active promoters.

In 1385 Giovanni di Pietro Antinori enrolled in the Art of Winemakers: since then the wine production has not stopped.

In the fifteenth century a branch of the family, descendant of Antonio di Giovanni Antinori, moved to Naples, where he had as much luck as in Florence, earning the esteem of the King and receiving the duchy of Brindisi.

Meanwhile in Florence the two brothers Antonio and Bernardo di Tommaso Antinori stand out for their political success. Bernardo's nephew, Niccolò Antinori bought the family palace from the Martelli family in 1506, in what would later be called Piazza Antinori in their honor.

The beautiful construction by Giuliano da Maiano and Baccio d'Agnolo was the seal of the achieved family prosperity, and is still inhabited today by the Antinori. Antinori coat of arms, Antinori Chapel, San Gaetano (Florence).

The only unfortunate episode in family history is with Bernardo Antinori, who in the second half of the sixteenth century had an unfortunate love affair with Dianora of Toledo, a young relative of the Grand Duchess Eleonora of Toledo, who had married her son and Cosimo I Pietro. de 'Medici in 1576.

This Pietro was one of the darkest characters in the entire history of the Medici family: no chronicler spares us his bad reputation as a violent, corrupt and arrogant person. His wife, neglected in favor of infamous women chosen by Pietro as lovers, got to know Antinori, with whom she began a relationship.

When the terrible Pietro learned of this, he decided to get rid of that wife once and for all, for him only an obstacle to his dissolute life and cause of infamy, choosing the most brutal way, that is, suffocating her with his hands in the Cafaggiolo villa.

Bernardo Antinori, on the other hand, was arrested on conspiracy charges and killed in prison, while Peter was covered by the protection of his sovereign father.

During the period of the Habsburg-Lorraine government, in the second half of the eighteenth century, they obtained the title of Marquis, becoming part of the small number of Florentine families welcomed and welcomed at Palazzo Pitti during the Habsburg rule of the city.

Today, family interests are mainly focused on wine production, which has reached levels of excellence in the numerous agricultural estates in the Chianti area, with red, white and vinsanti wines.

A renowned restaurant called Cantinetta Antinori in Florence is managed in the family palace.

Map: Antinori in the Chianti Classico