The notes written by Leonardo Da Vinci in 1515 on substances that encourage grape formation and other wine-making additives still amaze us today for the expertise Da Vinci showed in vinification techniques.

Da Vinci used to study grape growing and harvesting techniques on his many travels.

He designed table top wine pourers based on ancient Greek and Roman artefacts. He referred to wine as a gift of God; and wine frequently figured in his animated fables.

Leonardo Da Vinci was born into a family of public notaries, but the family also possessed ceramic kilns and abundant vineyards in locations that were famous for the quality of their wines already in the period of the Medicis.

The cutting (‘broncone’ in Italian) was a family emblem of the de’ Medicis, the lords of Florence; Da Vinci drew one in a manuscript dated 1494 with the annotation ‘a cut off branch that flowers again’ and the motto ‘ancora spero’, hope springs eternal.

The Italian term ‘broncone’ identifies not only a tree cutting but also the strong post that supports vines in a vineyard. The name ‘Broncone’ evokes the re-flowering of enlightenment in renaissance Florence, and embodies the excellence that Da Vinci would have surely found in this ‘soave grape liqueur’.

La Fucina di Leonardo proudly presents ‘Broncone’ wine as a true wine of culture. ‘Broncone’ is the result of a centuries old tradition that derives from authors like Piero de Crescenzio, Cecco da San Salvi, Ferdinando Paoletti, Ignazio Malenotti, Cosimo Trinci and Ignazio Lomeni (the past masters who helped modernise wine and wine making techniques in the ‘spirit of Leonardo’), passes through the 1900’s of Baron Ricasoli, and finishes with today’s technical innovations and expertise. ‘Broncone’ is indeed that ‘perfect wine’ that Leonardo Da Vinci sought: an expert and accurate selection of the best Central Tuscany Sangiovese bunch of grapes.

It’s wooden bottle holder also pays homage to Da Vinci’s genius: the “wine box” that Museo Ideale Leonardo Da Vinci and La Fucina di Leonardo have interpreted and reproduced here actually dates from a drawing by Da Vinci found in a manuscript dated 1487.