Saffron has been grown in Val d’Orcia since the Middle Ages and it was exported mainly to Germany. In 1857, during the Tuscan agrarian exhibition Clemente Santi – one of the fathers of the Brunello di Montalcino – presented the “Saffron from Montalcino’s soil” for whose virtues and qualities deserved the prize in the exhibition. “Saffron of Mr. Santi from Montalcino is estimated for the smell and richness of coloring matter … ” .
At the end of the last century the production was almost stopped and only in recent years has been rediscovered.
