Three new cellars for Riparbella wines

It is not as famous as Montalcino, as Chianti Classico or as nearby Bolgheri, but the Riparbella wine area, on the Pisan hills overlooking the sea inland from Cecina (Livorno), where vines have been cultivated since Etruscan times, continues to attract international investment (the latest being from the Generali insurance group which, through Tenute del Leone Alato, acquired the Duemani winery in 2023) and is now gearing up to increase its recognisability and value.

The Vignaioli delle colline di Riparbella (Riparbella Hills Winegrowers' Association) has just been set up, led by Flavio Nuti of Podere La Regola and formed by eight companies that own more than 150 hectares of vineyards and produce almost 500 thousand bottles. The objective is to enhance the territory and its quality production, which has already won several awards for its characteristics of elegance and freshness, given by the climate to which the Cecina river contributes.

On the production front, however, the time has come for new wine cellars. Three projects are on track, for investments approaching 10 million euro. The construction site has opened at the Caiarossa estate, a biodynamic winery owned by the Dutch Albada Jelgersma family, 40 hectares of vineyards and 140 thousand bottles, led by director Emilio Mancini. The new wine cellar, designed by Parisian architect Daniel Romeo, will be equipped with an ageing area and will be built on the road to Volterra. The budget is four million euro. The work will take at least a year and a half and is therefore scheduled to start in 2026.

The authorisation process has been long, but even longer and more painful is that experienced by the Urlari estate of Roberto Cristoforetti and two foreign partners, who have long wanted to build a new 1,500 square metre, three-storey gravity-fed winery from the conversion of an agricultural outbuilding. The investment is also in the region of four million, but still lacks the final ministerial go-ahead. "We have been fighting with the papers for four years, we are tired," explains Cristoforetti, who would like to double production from 40 thousand to 80-100 thousand bottles. We wanted to do something nice, but here it is impossible'. Instead, the wine cellar of Colline Albelle, a company owned by two Bulgarian wine entrepreneurs, Dilyana Vasileva and Irena Gergova, and the French oenologist Julian Reneaud, will be ready for the next harvest. He works with native vines used in purity, without blending, and is convinced that the Riparbella area has great wine and tourism potential.