Tenuta di Sesta

Clearly of Roman origin, the word ‘Sesta’ derives from a ‘sixth’ milestone near which the Pieve di S. Maria in Sexta stood on the edge of an ancient road that joined Roselle to Chiusi, already a fundamental communication route in Etruscan times; testimony to this are the numerous archaeological finds along this route.

As early as 714, the ‘Carta Aretina’ lists the Pieve di Sesta among the parishes of the diocese of Chiusi, a subject of dispute between the bishops of Arezzo and Siena in the following centuries. It is not known how long the activity of this Pieve lasted, but it is credible that it decayed fairly soon following the rise in the nearby Starcia Valley, around the end of the 8th century, of the Abbey of Sant'Antimo and its rapid expansion; certainly, the entire territory of Sesta also passed into the ownership of the Abbey at that time.

The Sesta Estate was formed following the expansion of the Republic of Siena and the decadence and subsequent suppression of the Abbey of Sant'Antimo in 1462 by Pope Pius II (the Sienese Enea Silvio Piccolomini). During the period of Sienese expansionism, Sesta became the possession of the noble Tolomei family, who had a chapel built here in honour of St Catherine of Siena.

In 1850, the property passed into the hands of the brothers Felice and Giovanni Ciacci of Castelnuovo dell'Abate. The first bottles of Brunello from the Tenuta di Sesta were produced in 1966, by Giuseppe Ciacci, father of the current owner Giovanni; at that time, there were only 12 bottlers, which is why the Tenuta di Sesta is considered one of the historical wineries in the Ilcinese area.