Vineyards

The vineyards are the pulsating heart of La Tosa; they enclose the deepest soul and identity. Nineteen hectares of vineyards, all tightly surrounding the company, sixteen and a half owned and two and a half, very close, leased; all belonging to the same terroir, but with significant differences between one plot and another and within each individual vineyard.

Since the early eighties of the last century, we have worked to achieve maximum concentration, complexity, aromatic richness, personality, and the unique characteristics of our territory in the grapes. For this reason, the initial objective at that time was to limit the grape production per plant with various operations, including thinning the clusters, which was then unknown in our area.

The second step was to maximize the expression of the soul of each different grape variety through differentiated and targeted dry and green pruning.

The third step, and for over twenty years, has involved allocating not only different grape varieties and vineyards, as is obvious, to each specific wine, but also delimited portions of each individual vineyard. These portions reflect and result from the extreme variety of soils, exposures, and microclimates characterizing the hill. Each portion is cultivated differently, and the grapes are harvested separately.

In general, ours has always been a 'balanced' viticulture. On one hand, with the cover cropping we have practiced in all vineyards since 1991, targeted plant nutrition, and copper-based treatments on the vines, we provide the plants with a slight controlled stress. This stress corresponds to the commitments in human life, ensuring that the substances produced concentrate more in the clusters than in vegetative growth. At the same time, through natural nutrition based on organic matter of animal origin in the soil and algae extracts used for vine irrigation, we ensure that the vines never suffer.

Since 2015, our viticulture, always based on the devoted respect for nature,
has been organic, and since 2018, we have the certification to prove it.

Treatments against vine diseases are therefore based on copper and sulfur, but also on herbal extracts, propolis, phenolic extracts, resistance inducers based on yeasts, and many natural substances that we research and test every year. Nature is a vast herbalist's shop, and it is our simple duty and infinite pleasure to understand it, to receive help from it, and to reciprocate with respect and love.

The 7 vineyards of La Tosa: Morello, Sorriso, Ronco, Bel Sorriso and Cà di Terra owned, Bellaura and Cà di Marte leased conduits.

Cellar

If the vineyards are the pulsating heart of La Tosa, the cellar is somewhat its brain. Undoubtedly, the soul of each wine is born in the vineyard, but it is the work and care applied in the cellar that allows this soul to express itself in all its nuances.

To achieve this, a quality that we strive to bring into play, in addition to passion and rigor, is the marriage between human and intuitive qualities on one side and rationality and extreme precision on the other. Therefore, all wines are analyzed in the laboratory many times, but each winemaking decision is made almost exclusively based on what the nose and palate reveal during tasting. Thus, we determine the precise moment of harvest based on the tasting, even more than the analysis, of grape samples taken in the vineyard.

Then, we harvest by hand in crates, carefully selecting the clusters. We press white grapes in a gentle lung press, while using a delicate crusher for red grapes.

The fermentation that follows is the most crucial moment in the formation of a wine: we monitor it particularly, paying close attention to the well-being of the yeasts that carry it out.

It is important, in fact, that during this phase, aromatic flaws and defects that could compromise their pleasantness, elegance, and expression of the terroir do not develop in the wines.

In the subsequent phases of winemaking, our two guiding principles are speed and attention in various operations, to avoid even minimal oxidations of the wines. We also adhere to a natural approach, characterized by minimal intervention, low sulfite dosages (even none for TerredellaTosa), and the use of natural antioxidants. We started using these antioxidants, among the first in Italy, in 2005. All of this is done to capture the gift that nature has given us with the grapes, without any blurriness.

Wines

One of our goals has always been for each of La Tosa's wines to have a peculiar, well-defined personality, and for all together to compose a varied and complete picture. From the clear and symmetrical lineup: four white wines, four reds, one sweet wine. Among them, four base wines (Terrafiaba Ortrugo, Riodeltordo, Terrafiaba Gutturnio, and TerredellaTosa) and five more significant wines. Among the latter, a pair coming from native grape varieties, with a softer and more immediate impact (Sorriso di Cielo and Vignamorello), and another pair, originating from French grapes, with a more masculine and thoughtful impact (Sauvignon and Luna Selvatica). Finally, the cherry on top of this gift from earth and sun, a sweet wine (L’Ora Felice), which with its fragrance and finesse conveys the light and deep touch of nature.

Nine wines are nine different interpretations of nature, nine children endowed with their own distinct character.

Nine are the wines, but numerous and all different are their vintages.

 

Projects

We have many projects in progress. There is always something to discover and learn, in any field. And if your working partner is none other than Nature itself, then truly, one never stops learning.

First and foremost, learning about our territory, with which we live every day, but in reality, know little about its intimate soul and its myriad facets. We have dedicated ourselves to this in recent years. In 2013 and 2018, we participated in a vineyard zoning project led by Dr. Carla Scotti from the I.TER studio. This project helped us understand better the origin and nature of our soils, leading to increased awareness of its influence on the organoleptic characteristics of our wines.

Since the mid-2000s, drawing from the most comprehensive and specific meteorological data, we have been studying the climate's evolution and its complex influence on grape maturation. This allows us to gain greater awareness and knowledge of the origin of the quality and characteristics of our wines.

But the famous 'terroir' is not exclusively made up of soil, climate, and man. Today, a fourth element is being added: microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, mycorrhiza, which mediate the relationship between plant roots and soil. These microorganisms vary from microzone to microzone, indelibly characterizing their specific territory. In 2017-2018, a study on biodiversity and the microorganisms in La Tosa's soils was conducted for us by Dr. Giacomo de Maio and Dr. Marta Fragnito from the company N.T.I..

Specific to each even small territory are the yeasts present in the soil, on vegetation, and on the berries. In 2017, we initiated a project in collaboration with Bioenologia by Maurizio Polo, involving several companies from all over Italy. The goal was to select certain strains of indigenous yeasts already existing in our vineyards to ferment our wines and enhance their specific terroir characteristics. As of now, we have three unique yeast strains, two suitable for white wines and one for reds. We continue to ferment increasing portions of our wines with these yeasts each harvest.

Since 2010, the application of the method of "Branch Pruning" developed by grape agronomists Marco Simonit and Pierpaolo Sirch has continued in the vineyard. This method aims to better respect the integrity and balance of the vines and extend their life. From 2021, the monitoring project of cicadas and various insects has been developed through FIVI, in collaboration with the research and consulting group Perleuve.

Since the 2015 vintage, our viticulture has been organic, and since 2018, we have obtained certification under the control of the " Suolo e Salute" organization. Since that year, not only all the grapes but also the majority of our wines are certified accordingly.

Organic farming, for us, entails a deep, comprehensive, and evolving approach to vineyard management. It is not a destination but a starting point to increasingly understand and follow the intricacies and balances of nature, which is a gigantic herbalist's shop at our disposal and for its own self-defense. Numerous natural extracts assist us in the fight against vine diseases and also exhibit precious antioxidant and antiseptic effects in protecting the wine during the vinification process.

In short, we consider ourselves farmers of the third millennium: living in close contact with the land and the vines. Thanks to ancient and everyday experiences, we follow them with immediacy and instinct. At the same time, through scientific tools, we study them with dedication and infinite curiosity.

Awards

Critical review is sacred to us, in the sense that whether we agree or disagree with the opinions and judgment criteria, it is always a conversation partner to consider and respect. It often provides us with suggestions and precious specific stimuli, along with the fundamental opinions of those who purchase and enjoy our wines.

Here are the recognitions that our wines have received from critics over the years.