San Miniato is a hilltop town in Tuscany known for its history, architecture, and cuisine. The town dates back to Etruscan and Roman times and was an important military outpost. It is home to the Rocca fortress built in the 13th century by Frederick II. The town is also renowned for its white truffles found in the surrounding hills, accounting for 25% of Italy's production. The Pietro Beconcini Agricola estate has been producing wine since the 1950s, with vineyards of Sangiovese and other local varieties such as Malvasia Nera and Tempranillo, an unexpected grape variety discovered in the vineyards.

1. presents
the treasures of San Miniato

2. San Miniato and its territory
T HE TOWN
HISTORY
T HE RO CCA O F FE DERICO II
A “ SLOW “ TOWN O F FLAVOURS
T HE W HITE T RUFFLE
PIETRO BE CONCINI AGRICOLA
“Io sono colui che tenni ambo le chiavi
del cor di Federigo”
The Divine Comedy, XIII° Canto dell’Inferno
Dante Alighieri sang about Pier Delle Vigne in the “Woods of
Suicide”. He was the Federico II's loyal chancellor, logothete and
poet untill he was blinded and emprisoned in the Rocca of San
Miniato. Unable to bear his disgrace, he killed himself in this
prison in 1249.

3. THE TOWN
San Miniato is a charming village perched atop a hill located
along the Arno river and situated in the heart of
Tuscany, halfway between Florence and Pisa, Lucca , Siena and
other towns of art.
San Miniato and its territory give a good cross-section of
Tuscany, where a modern development merges with old
traditions, a thousand-year-old history and a great artistic
heritage, all set against gentle landscapes where life is still on a
human scale.The origins of this city go back to the Etruscan-
Roman times but it has been conquered by Longobards and
Romans across the centuries. The town has a castle which
hosted Pope Gregory V and the legendary Frederick Barbarossa
who built the “Rocca”, a marvellous tower on top of the hill: it
has been the symbol of San Miniato ever since.
The town is situated near the well-known “Via Francigena”, the ancient pilgrimage road between
Rome and Canterbury, crossed also by merchants, kings and armies.
In the uncontaminated rural hinterland, among the roots of the oak, linden and willow
trees, snuggles the most prized of the hypogean mushrooms: the White Truffle of the San Miniato
Hills.

4. HISTORY
The origins of San Miniato go back to Etruscans and
Roman civilizations: the ruins of the necropolis of
Fontevivo, tables, marble statues and bronze works.
Colonized by the Augustan legionaries San Miniato later
was a military post but only as a consequence of the
Longobards' invasion it became a village. In 783 the
Longobards built a church here and consecrated it to the
martyr Saint Miniato.
The castle was built in 962 by the Emperor Ottone I who
founded there the seat of the Imperial Vicars with
jurisdiction the all of Tuscany. It was also the residence of
those marquis among which there was Boniface, marquis
and vicar of the Emperor, father of the Countess Matilde
of Canossa, born in San Miniato in 1046.
Many German Emperors visited the town and remained
here stayed in the Imperial Palace (today the Bishop's
Palace): Frederick "Barbarossa" was there in 1167 and in
1178; Ottone IV in 1209. San Miniato also had the
honour of welcoming three Supreme Pontiffs: Gregory V
in 996, Eugene IV in 1434 and Clement VII in 1553.

5. HISTORY
In the XVIII century the famous historian and naturalist Emanuele Repetti called San Miniato
"The seedbed of illustrious men and famous talents of all time and types“...
On his way home from Pisa, Saint
Francis of Assisi travelled to the top of
the San Miniato hill and founded the
historic Convent on the year 1211. In
the municipal period, the village, of
Ghibelline faction, received many
privileges from Emperor Frederick II
who had also built, around 1236 a
complex of fortifications.
Many brilliant people are bound to San Miniato. Francesco Sforza, Duke
of Milan, the Baron dei Mangiadori who commanded the Florentine
cavalry at the battle of Campaldino, the naturalist Michele Mercati
junior, the painter Ludovico Cardi, called "Cigoli", the chemist
Gioacchino Taddei, the philosopher Augusto Conti, the poet Pietro
Bagnoli and professor Pietro Rondoni, scientist and genius. Also the
Borromeo family of Milan and the Buonaparte of Corsica are
descendents of San Miniato noble blood .

6. THE ROCCA OF FEDERICO II
The Rocca of Frederick Barbarossa, symbol of San Miniato...
Its origins date back to the time of Frederick II, when
modifications were made to the fortifications that Ottone I
had already destined as the headquarters for the imperial
clergy. The stronghold represented the central nucleus of
the large defence system which also included the towers
of Matilde, together with the present-day bell tower of
the Cathedral, and the Delle Cornacchie Tower,
demolished in the 18th century.
From this strategic position at the confluence of the
Valdelsa and the Valdarno valleys, it was possible to
control the roadway between Florence and Pisa, as well as
the Via Francigena between Valdelsa and Lucca
The tower is famous because it was were Pier delle Vigne
was held prisoner. Della Vigna was the loyal secretary of,
cited in Dante’s Divine Comedy. The tower was destroyed
during WWII and completely restored in 1956. Because of
its strategic position, the tower also boasts magnificent
views of the surrounding countryside and the city of San
Miniato.

7. A “SLOW “ TOWN OF FLAVOURS
The culture and the quality of life intertwine in San
Minato: both in the urban context of the city
centre and the uncontaminated rural hinterland. A
meeting point for the city and the countryside is
the material culture of food that, in San Miniato,
has deep roots in their ancient agricultural
economy.
San Miniato is the town of the white truffle,
product king of its soil, and a “slow food” town
with delicious food and wine traditions.
You can taste the quality of these
genuine traditions in the farms,
restaurants and groceries; you can
breathe culture and the quality of life
in the streets and alleys of the
historical town centre; you can feel the
welcome of the people in the
farmhouses and wineries spread in the
countryside around the town…

8. THE WHITE TRUFFLE
The White Truffle from the San Miniato hills, a
geographical truffle-producing area that extends
towards the inland countryside of Pisa, is known as
the Tuber Magnatum Pico. This kind of
underground fungi is the most valuable. Located a
few centimetres deep, they can only be found in a
limited number of areas favoured by nature for
the particular, almost mysterious combination of
forest fauna and geological substratum.
San Miniato holds the most records in this select
area. Here the largest truffle ever found, a very
fragrant tuber weighing in at 2.520 grams, was
presented to President of USA Truman in 1954.
But their truffle also hold a record of quality not
only because of the fertility of the woods, but also
to the care taken and the deep respect for the
environment where they are grown in the San
Miniato hills.

9. THE WHITE TRUFFLE
The value of the White Truffle of San Miniato lies in its
rarity and its roots date from the Middle Ages, but it
has only been a little more than 100 years that their
gathering has been organised by the area’s family
groups, the so-called “Tartufai delle Colline
Samminiatesi”.
For these reasons the truffle, though, does not just
mean a unique taste: it is also local culture and
business. San Miniato produces 25% of Italy's white
truffle production.
For forthy years the Mostra Mercato Nazionale del
Tartufo Bianco di San Miniato (The National White
Truffle of San Miniato Show), transforms the city for
the entire month of November into a huge open-air
tasting workshop.
Here the truffle takes the throne where it is displayed
in the historical Piazza del Duomo at the foot of the
Rocca. Other squares also have their own markets,
with typical flavours of the San Miniato hills.

10. PIETRO BECONCINI AGRICOLA
Who we are…
Since 1997, Eva Bellagamba embarks this
new activity with Leonardo and decide
together to undertake the studies of the
local environment.
The most interesting results are:
 the selection of two local Sangiovese
clones, used for the wine production;
The winery history begins in the 1950s when  the increase of Malvasia nera grape
Giuseppe Beconcini purchases from the plantings;
estate of the Marchesi Ridolfi family the lands  the discovery of the unexpected presence
where his forefathers have been working for at San Miniato of the fabulous grape variety
many years. During the years from being an Tempranillo.
agricultural property it becomes a strictly
viticultural and winemaking estate.
Leonardo Beconcini avocation starts to take
shape in the 1990s when he takes over the
reins of the business from his father Pietro,
with the first vintage of a monovarietal
Sangiovese.

11. PIETRO BECONCINI AGRICOLA
Our vineyards…
The vineyards cover a total of 12 hectares of
territory and are the fruit of long, attentive
observation and selection of the grape varieties
growing in these small parcels.
The soil where we work is an extraordinary blend
of different components. The main one is a very
dense, compact white clay which means laborious
work to cultivate vineyards.
The other geological are incredibly
various, composed mainly of a whole series of
sandstones and Pliocene-era marine fossils, and
the layers are quite thin.
From the early 1990s to today we have studied
enormous numbers of grape varieties, all of
them exclusively indigenous and traditional to this
area.

12. PIETRO BECONCINI AGRICOLA
Discovering Tempranillo…
In the early 90’s, during The unique characteristics of Tempranillo
the selections from old vines today are due above all to
vineyards, we found out a spontaneous evolution over the centuries
particular vine that they have been in our vineyards and to
neither the most expert their intimate relationship with San
academics nor the most Miniato terroir: the acidity typical of
ancient winegrowers Tuscany, the savouriness and mineraly
could identify. tang that are the gift of our limestone
In the meantime we tried soils.
to track backwards in
time, in 1700.
In that period, Via Francigena, which pass through
our property, served by the most important road to
reach Rome on pilgrimages. In that period new
vineyards were started, by planting grape seeds
coming from these long.
A deep research indicated that a high percentage of
genetic material is identical to a Spanish variety
known as Tempranillo.