(HuffPost) - The founder of the Antinori family was Rinuccio, documented as far back as 1180, but the marquises proudly point out that their family tree includes Giovanni di Piero. In 1385 he became part of the Arte dei Vinattieri, Florence’s guild of winemakers, and launched a production history that has come down through six centuries and 26 generations. Today, the company— which boasts the famous Tignanello and Solaia among its wines—is headed by Marquis Piero and his daughters Albiera, Allegra and Alessia. In the Chianti Classico area it owns large estates such as Tignanello and Passignano, as well as the more recent and futuristic Cantina del Bargino. The estates of the Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi are equally famous and enchanting. Long present in Florence’s Oltrarno district—on the south side of the river—in the magnificent palazzo bearing their name, the Frescobaldi family owns a restaurant in Piazza della Signoria and six magnificent Tuscan estates, from the ultramodern Cantina dell’Ammiraglia in the Grosseto area to Castel Giocondo in Montalcino. But the heart of their centuries of winemaking history is Chianti Rufina, with a landscape that is almost Apennine in appearance, dotted with woods, vineyards and castles.

The production of the company, now headed by Marquis Lamberto, concentrates on important crus— wines that come from a single vineyard—like Montesodi and Mormoreto, and extraordinary classic DOCGs like Pomino and Nipozzano, produced on the estates of the castles by the same name that have always been owned by the family. With an eye to experimentation and development, the Frescobaldi family is currently investigating the possibility of planting new vineyards on the island of Pianosa, in the Tuscan archipelago that was already famous for its wine in Roman times. And, naturally, under the banner of a single mission: “Cultivating Tuscan Diversity.”