It was in the mid-1980s that Elisabetta Geppetti, only 20 years old at the time, inherited Fattoria Le Pupille from her father-in-law, who wasn’t interested in winemaking. Today, 30 years later, she is widely considered the woman who put Morellino di Scansano on the map of the world’s greatest appellations. She is also credited with giving the world a benchmark Super Tuscan, her family’s Saffredi, a label that has recently celebrated three decades of top scores and reviews. Located inland from but in view of the coast, the vineyards at Fattoria le Pupille lie at roughly 300 meters a.s.l. where they benefit from a natural day-night (diurnal) temperature shifts. The estate covers more than 400 hectares, with 75 hectares planted to vine. Although the winery is not certified, farming practices are entirely organic. Elisabetta still farms the winery’s original 25 “historic” hectares where her world-renowned Saffredi is grown. In recent years, Elisabetta’s daughter Clara has also joined the winery team. Representing the second generation of women to manage one of Italy’s most famous wineries, she played a key role, together with Luca, in developing the winery’s newly released 100 percent Syrah, aged in amphora and named simply “Le Pupille.”
This wine sinks its roots in 1996, when Elisabetta decided to purchase a vineyard called “Poggio Valente” nearby Pereta. The project is once again based on Sangiovese, and it is the absolute protagonist of the 2014 vintage, which constitutes as testimony.
Exposure and Altitude: Poggio Valente vineyard (Pereta) altitude 280 meters above sea level
Soil composition: the terrain is extremely hilly, the superficial layer is rich of clay and sand, underneath the layer is rocky of sandstone origins.
Implantation Date: from the early 70’s for the older implantation up to early 2000 for the more recent ones
Saffredi is the icon of Fattoria Le Pupille. A wine which owes his birth to the desires and intuitions of Elisabetta, who with the precious help of Giacomo Tachis, wanted to make a great wine in Maremma, a place which until then hadn’t relished in any fame related to the success of its wines. Elisabetta wanted to dedicate this wine to Fredi, the man who inspired her passion for wine.
Exposure and Altitude: vineyard altitude 250 meters above sea level
Soil Composition: predominantly of sandstone origin, with little organic substance or clay.
Vineyards Exposure: South-EastVineyards Surface: 6 hectares Pian di Fiora, 3 Hectares
San Vittorio Soil: rich of clay with a strong component of gravel of sandstone origin/nature; clay-iron based with presence of gravel.
The Morellino di Scansano undoubtedly is the standard-bearer of Fattoria Le Pupille. This wine’s first harvest was in 1985, since then Morellino has always accompanied the winery a full and constant expression of its territory.
Exposure and Altitude: Varied exposure, altitude 50-250 meters above sea level
Soil composition: We go from a clay and iron based terrain to terrains with a good presence of gravel
When she was just 20 years old, Elisabetta Geppetti took over her family’s estate on the Tuscan coast. Today, she is known as the “Signora del Morellino” or the Lady of Morellino. And her daughter Clara Gentili now represents the second generation of women to lead this iconic winery.
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