History

The Vallombrosan order, founded by Giovanni Gualberto near Florence in 1036, was one of the reform monastic movements that swept 11th-century Italy. Gualberto, a Florentine nobleman who had witnessed a murder in the streets of Florence and tried (and failed) to avenge it, withdrew to the monastery of San Miniato al Monte, then to Camaldoli, and finally to the beech forests of Vallombrosa where he established a community based on strict observance and manual labour. The Vallombrosans spread quickly through Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, and Lombardy; the foundation at Coltibuono in 1049 was part of this expansion into the Chianti hills. The monks cleared the surrounding forest, drained the marshes, planted vineyards and orchards, and built the Romanesque complex that still defines the estate's architectural character.

The monastery flourished through the 12th–13th centuries, accumulating landholdings across the Chianti zone. It was periodically in conflict with the nearby Ricasoli and Firidolfi families, the Chianti's dominant feudal clans, but generally maintained its position as the largest landholder in the immediate area. After the Napoleonic suppression in 1810, the buildings passed through several hands before being purchased by Michele Giuntini in 1846; the Stucchi Prinetti family (Giuntini's descendants) have managed the estate ever since.