It says a lot about the size and excellence of Armit’s Italian portfolio that, despite years of attending its tastings, including many devoted purely to Italian producers, somehow Tua Rita passed me by.
The Tuscan producer started out in 1984 when Rita Tua and Virgilio Bisti bought two hectares and a rundown farmhouse in Suvereto, Maremma for their planned retirement. They ended up planting Merlot vines, reflecting their love of Bordeaux but mainly their love of the land - for Virgilio being back in the countryside after years of white collar work was something he could not resist.
The aim was to make wine, and olive oil, for themselves. There was no plan to create a big wine company, complete with a modern underground cellar and all the usual accoutrements that exist at Tua Rita today because frankly, Italian wine was in the doldrums. Chianti was something you bought in wicker-wrapped bottles at your local pizzeria, the methanol scandal was just around the corner and names which are today revered – like Valpolicella and Soave – had semi-joke status amongst many wine consumers.
And, whilst neighbouring Bolgheri did get DOC status in 1984 it was only for white wines; red would follow in 1994 whilst Maremma itself would have to wait many years – until 2011 – for its own DOC status after 16 years as an IGT.
A love for the land
Giovanni Frascolla and grandmother RIta
Forty years on, Tua Rita may not be as well-known as those other icons which always attract at Armit tastings – Bruno Giacosa, Luca Roagna, Sesti and Querciabella and Tenuta San Guido to name just a few – but, as the first serious producer to establish at Suvarato, turning it into the new Bolgheri, their reputation has grown and grown. Indeed, when it comes to quality super-Tuscans it is top rank, as I discovered at a recent tasting of the new releases in London (2023 for the Ansonica, 2022 for the reds). More fool me for not cottoning on earlier.
But to understand the Tua Rita story, as Giovanni Frascolla (grandson of Virgilio and Rita and the third generation at Tua Rita: his father Stefano is now winemaker) told me, is to recognise that its evolution is based on Virgilio’s genuine love for the land.
Giovanni Frascolla and the new 100% Syrah Per Sempre 2022, London, September 4, 2024
“One of the first things he bought – even before he had much land – was a tractor because he loved to see the earth being churned, and having fun. He also loved the many animals that roamed the land. But what I remember most about him was how meticulous he was, and how details really mattered, and this remains core to our philosophy,” he says.
Some 14 years after Virgilio’s passing, Tua Rita produces around 250,000 bottles on 60 hectares of land with the bulk of this accounted for by the affordable Rosso dei Notri (now on 2022 vintage) a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot and 10% each for Cabernet Franc and Syrah – half aged in concrete and half in stainless steel – for around £20 this is a decent value, crowd pleasing introduction to Tua Rita but also the wider world of Super-Tuscans.
In this and indeed all the wines the sense of place is very much there – ironic given that the founder wanted to ape Bordeaux, even its narrow vineyard systems – whilst the wines taste and feel very Italian, including the top ranked and priced Redagaffi, now recognised as probably Italy’s top Merlot.
“He and the rest of the family were big admirers of Sassicaia so, rather than focus on Sangiovese and compete with Chianti, the idea was to go in the direction of the Bordeaux varieties, although we did also have some Sangiovese,” Frascolla says.
Also apparent is the commitment to excellence, which becomes clear as we taste through the wines and which Frascolla says extends to each and every grape being checked before selection.
So how are the wines tasting?
First off, the Keir Ansonica 2023, a luxurious, almost orange wine ‘take’ on the white variety (AKA Insolia in Sicily) made from grown in a unique 0.2 hectare vineyard looking across to the island of Elba. According to Frascolla, this plot is what remains of a much larger one planted by Napoleon and his retinue just ahead of what turned out to be a rather brief exile on Elba – they were testing the soil to see how good it would turn out to be for vineyards.
On the basis of this wine, they chose the site well – the clay/pebble soil helps bring about a lively and dynamic wine, also quite saline, reflecting the vineyard’s proximity to the sea. It is made more intense by the decision to ferment and macerate in handmade clay amphorae ahead of ageing for two months (Keir is Greek for ‘by hand’, referring to the amphorae) before bottling. Just 3000 bottles of this are produced, a shame as the wine ages very well. The 2022, tasted afterwards, shows great expression with suggestions of lychee, elderflower and lime, re-emphasising the suggestion that this feels and tastes more like a complex orange wine than a white.
Next, another amphora wine, the Keir Syrah 2022 first made by Stefano Frascolla back in 2016 at the insistence of Giovanni who argued that Tua Rita needed amphora-aged wines – the success of this led to the launch of the Ansonica three years later. Made from 40% whole bunch grapes, including some stalks, the wine is left for five months in amphora: this is very textured and balanced, despite 2022 being a hotter than normal vintage with almost no rain in the summer period. Again, made in small quantities (around 3000 bottles), the Keir Syrah is brambly, blackcurrant-charged, and with great length.
“My father was very sceptical about the use of amphora but these two wines have completely won him over: amphora, the focus on soil and grape selection make these really expressive wines and we’re really happy with the result,” Frascolla says.
Tua Rita’s Keir wines are outliers to the main premium range but what of the others?
Perlato del Bosco (“Pearl of the Woods”) and Giusto di Notri (“Our Taste”) are the oldest of the premium wines made at Tua Rita, both launched in 1992, both aged in big barrels and showing different aspects of the producer.
The first is a mid-weight 100% Sangiovese, quite spicy with cherry notes and soft tannins with the 2022 showing nice freshness and accessibility; the more aged 2020, tasted afterwards, showed how evolved this wine can become, lots of blackcurrant, pepper and some intensity.
Frascolla says the clone used is distinct from that in the Chianti or Chianti Classico region: on this reckoning, coastal Chianti is something to watch out for and well-priced at around £35 a bottle.
Frascolla calls Giusto di Notri Tua Rita’s entry level cru wine and at around £50 a bottle is actually pretty good value, a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% each Cabernet Franc and Merlot; nice structure and balance.
Next onto the jewel in the crown, the Redigaffi, the 100% Merlot that really put Tua Rita on the wine map. The 2022 was already tasting superb – fresh, with the all the bright fruit intensity you would expect, but with lots of nuance and complexity too, and an explosion of flavours on the nose and palate. Just 12,000 bottles are produced, and the first vintage, made back in 1994, is still showing well according to Frascolla.
“This tastes like it’s at the start of a long and eventful journey,” I wrote in my notes and this is true: whilst this is drinking very well now, in a few years it will well, wow.
I will say much the same for my favourite wine here, Per Sempre* 2022, a delicious full-on 100% Syrah, berry and cherry charged with lots of spice and pepper on the palate, and great length. Tasting this and later the 2020 – an even more generous and fruit forward expression of Syrah with extraordinary length – my impression was that this is a wine (even more perhaps) than the Redigaffi, that can evolve and mature and age beautifully for years, perhaps even per sempre.
Danielle Cernilli, aka Doctor Wine, in his latest Essential Guide to Italian Wine, says Tua Rita is “today justly considered, on an international level, to be one of the leading Tuscan producers.” Judging by these wines, I’m not going to argue.
*(“Forever”)
The wines of Tua Rita are imported and sold in the UK through Armit Wines which is a commercial partner of The Buyer. To discover more about them click here.
