A little bit of Relais's history

To discover the first written records of the existence of the hamlet of Fizzano, you need to dig your way back more than 1000 years. In a document drafted at Abbadia Isola and dating from 1007, Fizzano is referred to as the site of a castle and a court.
Due to its location, right on the border between the litigious municipalities of Siena and Florence, Fizzano was subject to several jurisdictional disputes: in 1203, for example, it was classed as an inhabited village within the Sienese catchment area, but shortly thereafter it was absorbed into the dominion of Florence along with nearby Castellina. At the end of the 13^th century, it became one of the bulwarks of the Florentine defensive line in the Chianti area and, under the name “Vizzano”, attained a measure of local renown.
In the 15^th century, Fizzano became part of the so-called “Lega del Chianti” (Chianti League) – as did Radda, Castellina and Gaiole – whose coat of arms was a black rooster in a gold field.
Following numerous battles between Siena and Florence, the ancient castle and court were destroyed, and in 1817, according to certain documents, Fizzano consisted of nothing more than a farm, a farmhouse, two bell towers and a chapel. The make-up of the settlement remained mostly unchanged for more than a century until, in 1984, the abandoned farm was purchased by Rocca delle Macìe, a winery based in Castellina in Chianti and owned by the Zingarelli family, which used the plots to cultivate grapes for its own wines and built a traditional oil-press (complete with millstones) for the production of olive oil.