History - Frantoio Pruneti

/HISTORY/

/In the beginning/

There’s no point in looking for the origins of our family, so distant as to seem that it has always been present in San Polo in Chianti: we should cross too many centuries, too many battles, too many vicissitudes. At any rate, thanks to some written records and to the memory of the older citizens of the town, we can go back as far as the mid-nineteenth century and narrate how a numerous family took up residence in this very house that long ago, when Antonio di Tanghe – Pasquale’s son – Pruneti by surname (at least according to the municipal records) decided to leave the “Valle”, a few kilometers away from San Polo, to move to and settle in “Rinforzati”, at the town gates.

/The beginning of everything/

/The beginnings of trade/

/In Italy/

That land, certainly more suitable for farming and for establishing what was to become the Pruneti farm, was, in fact, more central and already served by a provincial road “…dove vi si scambiavano anche due muli o due giovenche in marcia opposta…” [where even two mules or heifers could pass each other in opposite directions] and already had, in those times, its own blacksmith’s mill, a arish and a hostelry “…una casa e pezzi di vigna ove si fa taverna…” [a house and pieces of vineyard made into a tavern].

There is news of how Tanghe, a skilled mule-driver and woodsman, grew wheat and produced oil, wine, figs and anything that nature bestowed on him, but it was only with the help of Girolamo (his fourth child) that, towards the end of the nineteenth century, he began to sell the products grown on the family plot, setting out for the Florentine markets and selling directly along the road joining Florence to the Arno Valley.

/Abroad/

A little later Gladiolus (or Iris) farming began, the bulbs of which were in demand from the biggest and most famous French perfumeries which used it as an essential basis for their perfumes.

In the next generation, composed of Natalino (“Napoleone for his fellow villagers given his outstanding qualities as a commander evident from a tender age) and Sabatino, who today we would define as “single by choice”, the Pruneti farm began to make a name for itself on the market, establishing direct contact with important French companies interested in buying Iris bulbs.

/The origins of Pruneti/

The birth of the Pruneti enterprise begins with its processing of the iris and the commencement of the relative commercial activities abroad

/Stories from our past/

/The beginning of a new era/

Towards the Sixties, still under the controlling eye of Natalino, helped by his son Gilberto, the farm began to be mechanized (with the purchase of the first tractor) and to become more commercial (with the purchase of one of the first FIAT vans) though never abandoning the traditional and faithful mule.

In the intervening period, as can be seen from the document shown below, attention was paid to developing vine growing and it was during this period that the first vineyards began to appear with a shift from mixed farming to a specialization of the plots.

/Gionni and Paolo/

Paolo and Gionni Pruneti took over the family business after the third generation. The Pruneti brothers decided to specialize in oil production, paying special attention to each production phase: from recovering old olive groves to choosing the terrain and cultivars for the new ones, from pruning techniques to improving olive pressing and conservation. The choice of widening the oil market, compared with traditional direct sale, lead to the selling of the product in Italy and abroad.

/Gionni and Paolo/

Paolo and Gionni Pruneti took over the family business after the third generation. The Pruneti brothers decided to specialize in oil production, paying special attention to each production phase: from recovering old olive groves to choosing the terrain and cultivars for the new ones, from pruning techniques to improving olive pressing and conservation. The choice of widening the oil market, compared with traditional direct sale, lead to the selling of the product in Italy and abroad.

At the start of the Nineties the recovery of another product began, one that has always been present in the house’s vegetable garden: Saffron.

After twenty years filled with crisis for the Iris market, direct contact with French perfume houses was reinstated in 2001. Interest in Iris and its bulbs has been renewed, yet for us they have distinguished the life of our family for many years.

Currently we make nine types of extra-virgin olive oil that differ in their aromas and flavours, yet are all of extremely high quality, created out of the fusion between family experience and culture, new manufacturing systems and the characteristics of the Chianti land. Today we are happy and proud about bringing we have from the beginning.