TUA RITA

Über TUA RITA

We can`t really report about Tua Rita without speaking about the 2000 Redigaffi first. It was only the sixth vintage of this pure Merlot wine that was rated with 100 Parker points - what a sensation! But of all regions around the globe it had to be Italy with its amazing tradition in wine, who had to present nothing but a Merlot, in order to achieve this goal. Parker himself tasted and rated with the words “Boasting great intensity, glorious ripeness, formidable purity, and a finish that lasts nearly a minute, this is the stuff of dreams! [...] A brilliant achievement!". Until 1992 the only wine Tua Rita was producing was their Giustri di Notri, a mixture of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with a touch of Cabernet Franc, a typical and classic Bordeaux blend. Two years later they decided to fill a couple of barrels with Merlot in order to produce a pure Merlot, named Redigaffi (same named with a little creek across close to the mountain). The word spread fast once the massive, fruit-driven wine had its high reputation. Even with the first Redigaffi vintage 1994 Parker was enthusiastic about this wine and recommended it to Christian Moueix and Michel Rolland from Pomerol even though that was a rainy year! The Redigaffi never scored less than 90 Parker points (90 in 2003, the year of the extreme heat), but mostly 92 or more.


Tua Rita in the plains of Suvereto. The mountains rise right behind the winery.

This winery used to only be the old-age residence for Rita and Virgilio Tua. The couple bought this area for agricultural use in 1984 in order to follow their passion for agriculture and wine. It is only a stones throw from Suvereto and a couple of miles away from the beach, where huge ships take off to Elba. This area is known for its amazing view to Elba. Of the 10 hectares of land he used only 2 for Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, all of them successful grapes in nearby Bolgheri. In the first couple of years they also gave their harvest to the world-famous Sassicaia. But in 1992 they startet with the Giustri di Notri, their own wine and attracted interest in no time.

Tua Rita is situated just next to the mountains, around 100m high. Just behind the winery the land is steeply rising and very close by you will find one of the many marble- and granite factories. The red layers of stone look like sliced cake, this ground is perfect with its variety on minerals and rich chuncks of iron and zinc („Colli Metallifere“). The micro elements are essential for a salty and fresh taste in wine.

In 2000 the vineyards grew to 9 hectares and now in 2015 they are using 35 of their 50 hectares for this purpose. Not only was their growth of land important, it was the family who was the most important milestone during this development. Daughter Simena married Stefano Frascolla, who ownes a winery himself and from then on successfully managed Tua Rita. Dr. Stefano Chioccoli was the commited Oenologist and the winery was renovated and enlarged between 2000 and 2002. Naturally they work with a high plant density and a biological agriculture.


The top wines of Tua Rita are produced in a separate building of the winery.

By now Tua Rita is producing around 250.000 bottles and 90% of them are exported. Just remember that everything started with just 400 cases of wine! The most important markets are as usual the U.S., Switzerland, Japan, Germany and Scandinavia. Apart from their famous Redigaffi wine they also produce a couple of other wines that should be mentioned, for example the "Rosso dei Nostri", a blend of young Sangiovese grapes (50%), Cabernet Sauvignon and a bit of Merlot and Syrah."Perlato del Bosco" proves, that Sangiovese can infact thrive and prosper somewhere close to the coast. In order to do so, they used a heat resistant clone in 2011. The "Syrah" (per sempre) is made out of nothing but Syrah grapes and is produced with very little volume of only 3.000 bottles. 100% new barrels and a lot of Virgilio's passion make this wine special. On top of those wines they also produce two white wines called"Lodano" and "Perlato del Bosco Bianco".

However, their flagship will always be the Giusto di Notri and the famous Redigaffi, of which they are now making around 10.000 bottles. When visiting the winery, one can feel that it is still a very young one. The international attention is huge and their calendars are filled, but they keep caring about their guests and practice marketing on a high level. This becomes more and more important as the relevant wine critics tend to visit the wineries less frequently and judge solely on bottles that are sent to them. Thus they will never know what really happens in the winery.

The struggle to sell these wines (most of them over 100€) is real and it is not as easy as it used to be as quantities are increasing everywhere - and this luxury segment is still very small.