FOGLIA TONDA (It. language, meaning Round Leaf)

Foglia Tonda (Translation: Round Leaf) is an indigenous Tuscan grape variety native to the Province of Siena, municipality of Gaiole in Chianti, first described by a distinguished man of science, the count di Rovasenda in 1877. With the green revolution of the 1950s and 1960s it was considered extinct. It was found, right in the Municipality of Gaiole, in the early 90s thanks to the work of Dr. Paolo Storchi, researcher (now Director) of the then Experimental Institute for Viticulture of Arezzo (Detached section of the best known Viticulture Institute of Conegliano, today CREA-VIC). It is interesting to know that it was considered a variety in its own right until DNA analysis was made available, which revealed to be Foglia Tonda a hybridization (presumably occurred naturally) between a variety of vines still unknown and Sangiovese, for centuries widespread in Chianti vineyards.