Leonardo Beconcini tells: The history of my winery begins well before I was born, in the early 1950s to be exact. That was when my grandfather was successful in purchasing the lands that he, along with his family, had already been working for some time, but as a sharecropper on the estate of the Marchesi Ridolfi family. My own avocation began to take shape very slowly in the early 1990s, with local zonation research, and with the first vintage of a monovarietal Sangiovese in 1995. Successively, I took over the reins of the business from my father. Since 1997 I have I have had as my colleague my companion Eva Bellagamba, who made the heroic decision to share this project of mine and sacrifice her own future as an architect. I can say that the patience and caution that I showed in undertaking the studies of the local environment were the real key to all of the work that I have done since. The most important results, in chronological order, are: - an in-depth understanding of the vineyards here, which had previously been farmed rather primitively; - the selection of two local sangiovese clones, which I am still using today for wine production; - the decision to increase plantings of the malvasia nera grape - and finally the discovery of the unexpected presence at San Miniato of the fabulous grape variety that we now know is tempranillo. I have always striven to achieve the best balance possible both in the vineyard and in the cellar before I introduce a new wine. I currently produce, in order: Since 1995 RECISO, 100% sangiovese Since 1998 MAURLEO, 50% sangiovese, 50% malvasia nera Since 2004 VIGNA ALLE NICCHIE, 100% tempranillo Since 2007 IXE, 100% tempranillo Since 2008 Pietro Beconcini CHIANTI RISERVA Docg With respect to the winemaking process in the cellar, which I consider scarcely 10% of my effective work, I consider myself an out-and-out tradionalist who uses barriques , tonneaux and big wooden barrels. I start from the premise that the oak maturation vessel, whatever it may be, must only mature my wines. What confers on them great character and personality,