Villa Santo Stefano winery
Buy wines from Villa Santo Stefano winery
Villa Bertolli in the hills of Lucca looks back on a long history. In 2001, Nina Ruge and Wolfgang Reitzle opened a new chapter when they acquired the villa, completely renovated it and founded the Villa Santo Stefano winery.
Bertolli is a household name in the world of olive oil. Today, hardly any supermarket is without its bottles. This is because the family sold the name to Unilever. Ruge and Reitzle therefore named the villa and the winery after the neighbouring church from the 9th century: Villa Santo Stefano.
The fact that the villa has one hectare of vineyards was important to wine lover Wolfgang Reitzle. The former manager, who graduated from the Technical University of Munich in 1971 at the age of just 22 as the youngest graduate in engineering at the time and was one of Germany's top managers after working for BMW, Ford, Linde and LafargeHolcim, already had a lot of experience with the world's grand crus, which is why it was clear to him that he would only produce wine here if there was also cru potential.
The first trials were promising and, as the proximity to the sea was similar to Bolgheri, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot were planted and later Cabernet Franc as well. This is how the first Super Tuscan from the Lucca region was created with „LOTO“ in 2006.
With „NINA“ 2020, a single-varietal Cabernet Franc will be launched on the market for the first time in 2022, which comes from vineyards that Nina Ruge and Wolfgang Reitzle found in the Maremma and which are organically farmed like their own. The range is rounded off by the second wine „Sereno“ and the entry-level wines „Gioia“, „Volo“ and „Luna“, as well as an excellent olive oil from the Frantoio, Leccino, Moraiolo and Maurino varieties.
© Photos: Villa Santo Stefano Winery
