Castello del terriccio
Farm
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CASTELLO DEL TERRICCIO

History


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Background

In this hilly territory, viticulture dates back to the times of the Etruscans , who between 800 and 500 BC dominated this stretch of Tuscany and mainly dedicating themselves to mining, but it is to the Middle Ages that the ruins of the castle of Doglia, called del Terriccio, take us back to. Strategically positioned on top of the hills, it had the function of being a signalling and protection tower for the people who lived in the valleys and who, upon sighting of the Saracen sails, flocked there to find refuge.

In the 1980s, during the break-up of the soil to plant the first vineyards of Lupicaia, a relic depicting the Etruscan sun was found in the ground and from that moment on it has been used as a company logo.

The Castello of Terriccio therefore has a thousand-year long history. Between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the bishop of Pisa, nephew of Pope Boniface VIII, granted the estate in emphyteusis to the Gaetani counts, in the name of the Roman Church. At the end of the eighteenth century, that branch of the Gaetani family was left without heirs and the Terriccio was bought by the Poniatowski princes, emigrated from Poland, who then owned the property until the first half of the twentieth century. The Poniatowskis transformed the fortified reality of the castle into an agricultural estate : hence the construction of the farm to organize the production of wheat, olives and grapes, the construction of the cellar and other buildings and farmhouses.

The modern history of Terriccio begins in the first half of the 1900s , when the estate was acquired by the Marquises Serafini Ferri , which is the family of the current owner. With the important land improvement interventions carried out in the 1920s, the Serafini Ferri family brought the company and the estate to a state very close to the current one. Until the 1970s, the estate was divided between 63 sharecropping families who live in the village of Terriccio and was so famous for its production of cereals that it conquered the European record for the corn production in its second harvest.

It is to Gian Annibale Rossi di Medelana (1942-2019) that Castello del Terriccio owes its worldwide notoriety of being a winery dedicated to the production of very high quality wines. After inheriting the company in 1975, he decided to found it anew, dedicating it to being a place of research for excellence in vineyards and wines , while keeping the ancient character intact and defending a territorial heritage of great value and extraordinary beauty.

Today the ownership has passed onto Vittorio Piozzo di Rosignano Rossi di Medelana , the only nephew of the cavalier Gian Annibale. Also descended from noble families with large landholdings in the country that date back to past centuries, Vittorio Piozzo di Rosignano has left behind his career in finance to devote himself to the management of the family's agricultural activities and now to the direct administration of Castello del Terriccio.


The Town of Castello del Terriccio

The Town of Castello del Terriccio

Facade of the Church of Terriccio

Interior of Church of Terriccio

Interior of the Historical Cellar

Vineyard inspections with Cav. Gian Annibale Rossi di Medelana

Castello del Terriccio Vineyards

Lupicaia Vineyards

Lupicaia Vineyards