Monteloro is located on the Florentine hills. The Monteloro Church was in the hands of the bishops of Fiesole since the Middle Ages and in this area some Florentine families such as those of Dante and Beatrice had their summer residence and it is nice to think that the two met right here.
A little further north extends the Monteloro estate with 600 hectares of surface covered mainly by woods. It is a cold area, not very suitable for the cultivation of traditional Tuscan grapes and today it belongs to the Marquises Antinori. Only an intuition of the Marquis Piero Antinori, supported by in-depth research, led to experimenting with different grapes, especially white berried grapes, such as the Rhine Riesling, which comes from the banks of the Rhine and Moselle in Germany.
Antinori's project began in the early 2000s with the restructuring of existing vineyards, consisting of many separate plots surrounded by woods that reach up to 600 m above sea level. Although the exposures may vary, the entire property extends on the side facing east and north-east, the one that enjoys the coolest air and is subjected to the cold currents of the Apennines. This is the reason why the Antinori have replaced the Sangiovese and the pre-existing Tuscan varieties with other varieties suitable for a cool climate. Many of these grapes enrich some whites produced by the Antinori, but with a selection of the best Riesling plots, Tenuta Monteloro has been producing its own wine since 2007, the Mezzo Braccio, which stands out as one of the most original and successful Riesling wines made in Italy.