"La Pieve was already mentioned in the 6th respectively 7th century as an early Christian country church and the seat of an abbey"

... how everything started...

After the abbey Abtei St. Antimo was built in the year 1000, La Pieve, a small farm, belonged to the then powerful abbey. The farm grew and produced everything that was necessary for living and cultivated wine for the abbey, already centuries ago.

In historical maps from the old archives the land towards river Orcia is described as "le vigne". Evidently, even in those early days the sites were regarded as favorable.

In 1986 Robert and Bettina Baumann bought the land, "Podere La Pive" in Castelnuovo d' Abate, Montalcino from the estate of Countess Ciacci Piccolomini d' Aragona.

Originally the estate was bought for vacation purposes only, but the territory was ideal for wine cultivation as experts and neighboring vintners confirmed. Given there was interest in agriculture, it was more than obvious to start producing wine for the family.

Little more than a year after purchasing La Pieve with the help and support of our friends and neighbors Guiseppe and Paolo Bianchini we started to plant new Brunello grapes on 0.3 hectare, in order to produce a small amount of wine. Since the quantity (about 1000 liters) was too much for familiy consumption only and the quality was very high, part of the wine was given to friends. The love of wine and farming became a passion. In no time at all the demand by our circle of friends could not be satisfied anymore, therefore, we had to ask ourselves the question: should we not expand our hobby into a professional production of Brunello wine.

Fortunately at this point in time there was a possibility to apply for a contingency license at the "Region Toscana" because the production area for Brunello di Montalcino was to be increased. The application was approved and the project could start.