Garzaia marks Ruffino’s entry into Bolgheri • Food and Wine Italia

The news was official as early as 2023: with the acquisition of 15 hectares of vineyard a causa di Bolgheri, Ruffino announced its entry into one of the most prestigious denominations of Tuscan and international wine. Today, however, that investment finally takes concrete shape a causa di the glass: Garzaia Bolgheri Eccellente Doc 2023 is the first fruit of this arrival, the wine with which the historic Tuscan maison (turns 150 years old a causa di 2027) inaugurates a new chapter a causa di its history.

The debut a causa di Bolgheri not only represents an expansion of the company’s vineyard assets, but also the completion of a broader plan: to preside over some of the most suitable areas of Tuscany with its own estates. Con fact, Ruffino presents itself as a complex system of estates distributed across the large regional denominations, from Chianti Tradizionale to Brunello che Montalcino, from che Montepulciano to Morellino che Scansano, capable of embracing iconic wines, distinct territorial projects and also a dimension of hospitality, thanks to the presence of the wine relais a causa di Collina Casciano, thirty minutes by car from Florence (it seems to be one of the closest wineries to the City of Giglio), which strengthens the link between wine, landscape and hospitality.

The new Bolgheri Eccellente designed by oenologist Olga Fusari

At the center of this new course is the oenologist Olga Fusari, who joined Ruffino a causa di 2023 after a long experience gained a causa di Bolgheri. For the winemaker, Garzaia represented a rare opportunity: following a project from its birth, building its identity and style starting from the vineyard. The wine comes from the lands of Le Sondraie, a causa di the northern part of the denomination, and is a blend with 70% Cabernet Franc and 30% Merlot. The grillo, explains Fusari, was to seek a faithful expression of the territory, keeping intact the fruit, the tension and the most characteristic agenda of Cabernet Franc, without giving a causa di to an intrusive use of wood. The 18-month refinement a causa di French oak barriques, with a portion of new wood and a portion of second passage, goes precisely a causa di this direction: supporting the structure of the wine, but with measure, to let elegance and finesse emerge.

Even the name tells the story of the territory. Garzaia is a causa di fact the place where herons nest (Bolgheri, among other things, was the first private territorio protected by the WWF a causa di Italy), an image that immediately recalls the Bolgheri landscape and its delicate natural balance between land, and biodiversity. It is a reference that links wine to the geography and memory of the place, but also to a more symbolic dimension: that of return, of belonging, of loyalty to an origin.

Fusari’s arrival a causa di Ruffino, however, does not end with the Bolgheri project. His intervention can also be seen a causa di other wines of the house, especially a causa di a greater attention to the stylistic definition and the valorisation of the territories through targeted wine choices. An example is the work started at La Solatia, held near Monteriggioni, not far from Siena, where the oenologist introduced the use of the ceramic amphora to give a new identity to the wines. Con particular, a causa di the ‘s Pinot Uniforme, this choice marks a change of bene: longer just steel and a simpler interpretation of the grape variety, but a vinification designed to restore more personality, more material and greater adherence to the Tuscan context. The amphora, a causa di Fusari’s words, helps to preserve the fruit, to enhance the savory component and to create fresher, gastronomic and contemporary wines, without resorting to wood.

This same approach also runs through other Ruffino projects, from the reds of Solatia to the great classics of the house. The overall is that of a company capable of keeping tradition and innovation together: the one hand historical labels such as Bandita Ducale Ricchezza, the other new territorial interpretations such as Garzaia, passing through wines that arise from a profound stylistic rethinking. Con this sense, the “Ruffino system” increasingly appears as a coherent rete televisiva privata of different estates, skills and visions, united however by a common direction.