Tua Rita

Tua Rita was founded in 1984, in the heart of the Tuscan Metalliferous Hills, in Suvereto, by Rita Tua and Virgilio Bisti. When they bought the property, the land and buildings were meant to be the setting for a life close to nature, cultivating their own land, but their passion for wine changed things. In 1988 two more hectares were added, planted with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1992 the couple took on consultant oenologist Luca D'Attoma and started bottling their own wine, the first of which they called Giusto di Notri. The original 2 hectares of vineyard placed Tua Rita among the early Italian successes built on the vin de garage model; in about ten years the vineyard grew to 9 hectares, then to 20 hectares by the beginning of the new millennium. The estate's own pages give its current size both as 60 hectares of vineyard and as 65 hectares. The cellar was renovated and upgraded between 2000 and 2002. Virgilio Bisti (d. 2010) was followed in the management of the estate by his daughter Simena, who joined in 2010, and her husband Stefano Frascolla.

• 1984: Rita Tua and Virgilio Bisti found Tua Rita in Suvereto.
• 1988: two more hectares are added and planted with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
• 1992: Luca D'Attoma joins as consultant oenologist and the first wine, Giusto di Notri, is bottled.
• 1994: first vintage of Redigaffi.
• 2000 to 2002: the cellar is renovated and upgraded.

As of March 2021, the owners were Rita Tua, her daughter Simena and Simena's husband Stefano Frascolla, who have run the estate since 2010, more recently with the help of their son Giovanni, a trained oenologist. Stefano Frascolla's work developed the estate's image and marketing. Giovanni Frascolla is the third generation of the family.

• Owners (as of March 2021): Rita Tua, Simena and Stefano Frascolla.
• As of March 2021, Simena and Stefano Frascolla had run the estate since 2010, with the help of their son Giovanni Frascolla, a trained oenologist; Giovanni is the third generation.
• Luca D'Attoma became the estate's consultant oenologist in 1992.

The vineyards lie on gentle slopes between the land and the sea in Alta Maremma, within the territory of the Metalliferous Hills, in the area between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Colline Metallifere called Val di Cornia. The soil is rich in stones, rocks, clay, silt, sand and micro-minerals. The training system alternates between single spurred cordon and double spurred cordon, and planting density ranges from 5,000 to 9,000 vines per hectare. Every practice follows the principles of organic agriculture, with the aim of preserving the health of the grapes and the surrounding environment. An Enjambeur tractor, which does not compact the soil, has been used since 1997, and a pre-harvest as well as a green harvest reduce the yield per vine. On the Redigaffi site the soil is distinctly clayey with a medium-high presence of stones: the higher vineyards carry more stones, the lower ones more silt, and the central area, where the Merlot vines are planted, more clay.

• Alta Maremma, Colline Metallifere, Val di Cornia: soils of stones, rocks, clay, silt, sand and micro-minerals.
• Single and double spurred cordon; 5,000 to 9,000 vines per hectare.
• Organic principles in the vineyard; an Enjambeur tractor since 1997.
• Merlot for Redigaffi grows in the central, most clayey part of the slope, from vines planted in 1988.

Grapes are picked by hand into small crates, sorted on sorting tables, softly pressed and fermented in truncated-cone wooden vats. Maceration lasts 25 to 30 days depending on the vintage, with targeted pump-overs and/or punch-downs. At the end of vinification the wine flows by gravity into barriques for a minimum of 12 months of ageing. Redigaffi matures for 18 to 20 months in first-passage French oak barrels, Giusto di Notri for about 18 months in new and once-used French oak barriques, and Per Sempre for 15 to 17 months in new French oak barriques; each is bottled in the summer and rests in bottle for several months before release.

• Hand harvest in small crates, sorting tables, soft pressing, truncated-cone wooden fermentation vats.
• Maceration of 25 to 30 days with pump-overs and/or punch-downs; gravity transfer to barriques.
• Barrique ageing: Redigaffi 18 to 20 months, Giusto di Notri about 18 months, Per Sempre 15 to 17 months.

Redigaffi is a pure Merlot named after a small stream that flows near the property; in 1994 Rita and Virgilio set aside two barrels of Merlot from production, and that first commercial bottling ran to 600 bottles. Production of Redigaffi was 13,000 to 15,000 bottles as of October 2022. Giusto di Notri, first produced in 1992 from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, takes its name from the church of San Giusto in Suvereto and from the first vineyard planted in Notri. Per Sempre is a 100% Syrah, first made in 2001 and dedicated to Virgilio Bisti, who wanted Syrah alongside the traditional vineyards and personally looked after it. Keir is a 100% Syrah fermented on skins in clay amphorae, first made in 2016, and Keir Ansonica is a white from Ansonica, also vinified in amphorae. Lodano, named after a local stream, is a Petit Verdot with some Merlot. The range also includes Lodano Bianco, Perlato del Bosco Rosso (a Toscana Sangiovese IGT), Palazzetto, Rosso dei Notri (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah) and Sese, a Passito di Pantelleria from Muscat.

• Redigaffi: 100% Merlot, Toscana Merlot IGT, first vintage 1994.
• Giusto di Notri: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, Toscana Rosso IGT, first vintage 1992.
• Per Sempre: 100% Syrah, Toscana Syrah IGT, first vintage 2001.
• Keir: 100% Syrah fermented in clay amphorae, first vintage 2016; Keir Ansonica: Ansonica vinified in amphorae.
• Also: Lodano, Lodano Bianco, Perlato del Bosco Rosso, Palazzetto, Rosso dei Notri and Sese (Passito di Pantelleria).

Robert Parker awarded 100 points to the 2000 Redigaffi, and Decanter's Susan Hulme MW recorded it as the first Italian wine to receive a perfect score from him. Hulme gave the 2016 Redigaffi 100 points in March 2019, calling it 'the best Redigaffi I have tasted.' In 2020 Tua Rita ranked 88th in the Liv-ex Power 100 list of fine wine brands, as Decanter recorded.

The estate links its wines to the mineral-rich soils of the Metalliferous Hills, which it writes give wines 'aromatically marked by pleasant iron notes and, on the palate, by a beautiful saline character.' Stefano Frascolla puts the approach this way: 'We believe that great quality is a set of small improvements and fine-tuning of details.'

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.tuarita.it/?lang=en, https://www.tuarita.it/la-nostra-storia/?lang=en, https://www.tuarita.it/le-vigne/?lang=en, https://www.tuarita.it/cantina/?lang=en, https://www.tuarita.it/wines/?lang=en, https://www.tuarita.it/vini/redigaffi/?lang=en, https://www.tuarita.it/vini/giusto-di-notri/?lang=en, https://www.tuarita.it/vini/per-sempre/?lang=en, https://www.tuarita.it/la-storia/, https://www.tuarita.it/vigneti/. Secondary sources: Decanter (Susan Hulme MW, 10 March 2021; 24 October 2022; 11 March 2020). Last verified 2026-10-14. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.