Terre di Pisa
Terre di Pisa DOC lies on a coastal plain, south of the river Arno and Pisa itself. The city of the leaning tower has a particularly strong connection with Puccini, because it was here that the young student from Lucca first heard a Verdi opera and decided that he, too, wanted to compose for the stage.
Terre di Pisa was only established as an independent DOC in 2011. It produces a lot of red wine from varieties similar to those used in the DOCs to the north: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah, plus the all-important Sangiovese. But unlike mountain-protected Montecarlo and Colline Lucchesi, the area is exposed to the winds and mists of the Mediterranean and – having been under the sea for thousands of years – has a very different soil, the result of millennia of seashells decomposing just below the surface.
Varramista (www.varramista.it) is an estate 40km east of Pisa, just 70m above sea level, that is typical of the DOC. It is owned by the Agnelli family of Fiat fame. The central villa has a gracious, high-arched entrance surrounded by boxed hedges. It was designed by the great 16th-century Florentine sculptor Bartolomeo Ammannati, who also worked on the transformation of the Medici’s Pitti Palace in Florence. The estate produces only red wines, made from predominantly Sangiovese and Syrah grapes.
Drive 20km south of Varramista through low, rolling countryside to arrive at Villa Saletta (see right). English hoteliers Guy and Julia Hands have bought up this picturesque, abandoned, hilltop Renaissance town and all its vineyards. They have since reopened three old villas within the 65ha estate for guests, and are building a new visitor centre for the winery. The estate grows Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese, which also combine beautifully in the lovely Rosato Italiano rosé. Some of the estate’s wines are served as house wines in the couple’s Hand Picked Hotels in England.
South of Villa Saletta, along 12km of winding flat roads, stands La Spinetta (www. la-spinetta.com). In 2007, this famous
Piedmont company opened a satellite vineyard in Tuscany, building a new glass-faced visitor centre overlooking 65ha of vines and the hilltop town of Santo Pietro Belvedere.