I recently had the opportunity to taste with winemaker, Caterina Gargari, of Pieve de’ Pitti winery near Pisa in the region of Tuscany. A beautiful place, full of soils of various kinds that she uses to distinguish many of her single-varietal wines.
Caterina is an architect by education, and she has expertly designed her wines to support the elements of flavor, minerality, structure, and elegance.
The winery…
The name of the winery partly comes from the chapel (pieve) located on the property. It belonged to St. John of Pava and was built on the ruins of an ancient Etruscan church. The other half of the name comes from the Florentine Pitti family who built the villa and owned the estate until the end of the 17th century.
Those soils…
On the property, there is a hill where many vines are planted. This hill comprises five different soils, including volcanic soil and blue clay (actually blue-tinted). And this is where Caterina’s magic starts – in each individual soil with each particular grape.
Making single-varietal wines from specific soil types in Tuscany is a bit of a modern spin, but Caterina does it effortlessly. Her goal is to showcase the grape in its authentic form as it is represented in each unique terroir. By producing wines only from the grapes grown in the winery’s vineyards, Pieve de’ Pitti wines are guaranteed to be managed from vine to glass in a way that represents the intention of Caterina and
This Article was originally published on History and Wine
