2010
Guests Reviews
To the Owner of Villa Vignamaggio,
We returned from our first visit to Italy and wanted to let you know that your Villa was one of the best experiences we had. The accommodations were beautiful and the view from our room could not be beat! Your staff was very kind and helpful and I wanted to make sure you knew about how a few of them made our stay VERY memorable.
Sandro gave us the wine tour and cooking class. He could not have been a better Host and you could “feel” the passion he had for his work and the resort. Christina the chef was also very sweet and really made our cooking experience fun. Finally on the day we were leaving we were having some car trouble and a very nice young lady at the reception desk was very helpful with translation and the rental car people we were trying to talk to. She spent at least 20 minutes with me trying to help. I am sorry to say I do not remember her name but I think it may have been Sara. While I was with her, Sandro came in and also helped us.
We would definitely let our friends and family that this is the place to stay for a beautiful experience in Tuscany. Thank you again! Irene & Greg
Guests reviews
Sandro,I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you again from the bottom of our hearts for all that you and Sylvia did for us to ensure our wedding day was the most special occassion in the whole world. Everyone cannot stop talking about how wonderful their time was at Vignamaggio and they know that was mainly due to your dedication and heart felt desire to enhance the experience. I regret not seeing you on the day of our departure to thank you in person, but it was a busy morning and I know that I will see you again. Words can't explain how grateful Savanna and I are and how fortunate we were to have you running the show during our wedding. Once again Sandro - thank you so much for everything that you and the rest of your staff did for us (Christina x 2, Gaya, Guido, and everyone else)....it was the time of our lives!!CiaoVincent and Savanna
they got married at Vignamaggio in May 2010
2009
GREEN AND FLOWERS ALL LONG THE YEAR
For an enchanted afternoon we were shown the gardens, still being worked on, the new wine‑making equipment, and the olf farm buildings converted to small holiday apartments. Apart from this limited tourist development, Vignamaggio has been reestablished as a private home, winery and producer of olive oil.
Did Giovanni Nunziante buy the villa in order to become a winemaker, I asked, on seeing the impressive cellars? He looked at me in that way only an Italian can and answered: “I bought it because I loved it".
As we walked through the house, it became evident that the enthusiasm these new owners have for the place is as important to its evocative atmosphere as its history.
The house was built early in the 15th century by the Gherardini family. Their daughter, Mona Lisa was born in 1496 and, yes, it is easy to imagine her as a young child running down the long cypress avenues, peeping over the terrace between the two stone dogs to see visitors arriving.
At 16, Mona Lisa (to use the English spelling), married Francesco del Giocondo. As La Gioconda she is the subject of possibly the most famous painting in the world.
Less historic, but equally evocative is the fact that the Kenneth Branagh movie of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing was made here. The magic of the garden comes through superbly in this film and it is what one remembers the most about a visit here. It was the making of the movie that contributed to the removal of damaging ivy that covered much of the house, and the painting of the rich deep‑but‑faded red.
Since the movie was released a large part of the gardens have been closed to the public. But interested visitors are taken to look over the wine cellars and the attics. And from the attics is a wonderful view of the Italianate garden stretching in front of the house and the hills of Chianti beyond. Although the formal gardens have been left largely unchanged they, like the house, have been cleaned and gradually brought under control.
Most of the works is done by Guido, who tends is as his own, with help of the Nunziantes. Pruning of the huge shaped‑cypress hedges is supervised by Armando, the old gardener whose job was to prune and also tend the coal‑fired furnace that formerly heated the house. "The first thing we needed was water", explains Giovanni, for Tuscany is often affected by drought. “I brought in a water diviner and found that I, too, could devine it. We discovered a spring in the hills and now water is piped down to keep the plants watered all year". An old riding area was uncovered when one wooded section was cleared. Now the paths wend between emerald lawns and flowering shrubs. Work on the house and garden is continual, but very rewarding. As Giovanni Nunziante admits, many of the locals were at first sceptical. Now they agree: Vignamaggio is again the showpiece of the area. But more than that, it is once again a family home and garden.
(Erica Robinson, Australian HouseGarden Year Book 1994)
Leonardo and his infinite curiosity
Read the article on El Pays:
REPORTAJE: VIAJES POR LA HISTORIA TOSCANA
Leonardo y su curiosidad infinita
La Casa di una volta - May 2008
Una vita in campagna
Vignamaggio, la sua architettura inserita armoniosamente nel contesto naturalistico e la sua suggestiva storia di vigneti, d'arte, di letteratura e di cinematografia.
I Viaggi di Repubblica - May 2008
Villa Vignamaggio
La Villa di Monna Lisa si trova sulle colline della valle del fiume Greve, nel territorio del Chianti dove, secondo la leggenda, Leonardo Da Vinci, ammirava la Gioconda che si affacciava da una delle finestre per poterla ritrarre.
Itinerari Travel - 2002
Ospitalità in uun'antica villa, dove nacque Monna Lisa
Vuoi sapere qual'è l'angolo della terra, la volta del cielo, che mi fanno vivere così beato?
Il luogosi chiama Vignamaggio...
Le Vide d'Italia - December 1935
December 1935
TOURING CLUB ITALIANO Montly Review
