GRAPES and TERRITORY, between history and food and wine

The highly anticipated appointment of the GRAPE FESTA of Capoliveri (4-6 October), which has always united conviviality and folklore, is the occasion to talk about the importance of wine for the development of the Island of Elba.

After that, with the advent of tourism, we have witnessed a gradual abandonment of the countryside, today it is precisely this same tourism that is generating a return market for local wines on Elba, especially in the summer period, so to push the cellars to produce and bottle more wine and to develop new crops.

More and more today wine and food and wine products tell the territory from which they come and make it interesting and beautiful to visit. Guests, tourists and inhabitants rediscover the "artisan taste" of food, the ancient recipes coming from tradition and the producers themselves find stimulus to invest in their activities, with new crops and the recovery of ancient processes.

Thus, from the many and different areas of the Island of Elba, a true heritage of biodiversity, wines are born that contain fundamental testimonies of our past, encounters and exchanges of cultures and traditions.

For wine and tasting lovers, the days of the Grape Festival may well be accompanied by a visit to some local production farms. Among these, we suggest:

FATTORIA DELLE RIPALTE: The Fattoria delle Ripalte has its roots in an Elban company founded by Count Tobler in 1896. Located on the south-east end of Elba, in a beautiful and unspoiled estate of 420 hectares, it has vineyards of about 15 hectares . The company's oenologist is Pier Mario Meletti Cavallari, a well-known Bolgheri winemaker, who offers a Toscana Igt Vermentino, a Toscana Igt Rosso delle Ripalte, Aleatico Alea Ludendo, a Rosato delle Ripalte and a Brut Rosato with particularly prized Aleatico grapes. The company participates in the main Italian and foreign vine and wine events and will also be present at Vinitaliy 2020. At Ripalte we recommend a tasting on the magnificent designer terrace, created by the famous architect Tobia Scarpa, perhaps followed by an excellent dinner at the Ripalte restaurant. Since 2002, in fact, the production of wine has also been successfully accompanied by tourist activity, which offers hospitality in hotels, prestigious villas, farms and the brand new glamping.

For contacts: Fattoria Delle Ripalte | Capoliveri (Li) | loc. Ripalte | tel. 0565.94211 | www.fattoriadelleripalte.it

MONTEFABBRELLO: Owned by the Galletti family for three generations, the company - which is also a farmhouse - Montefabbrello loves making wine as it used to be: on nine hectares of vineyards - all from organic farming - excellent DOC and DOCG wines are produced that the company presents at important Italian events dedicated to wine. In 2018 the Aleatico Passito Elba D.O.C.G. 2017 of Montefabbrello has won the prestigious AUTOCHTONA AWARD 2018 in Bolzano and 4 other wines, including ELBA VIN SANTO OCCHIO DI PERNICE have been selected to participate in WINE & SIENA 2019. Today the company offers thirteen labels with beautiful and evocative names, including the new "SETTEVENTI", the first Pinot Grigio cultivated on Elba. Montefabbrello also produces the famous "Elba Pasta" with Senatore Cappelli wheat. In addition to a tasting of their wines, we advise you to stop for dinner at their Ristoro, with a cuisine of the highest quality and zero-mile products prepared with passion by Chef Massimo Poli.
For contacts: Montefabbrello | Portoferraio (Li) | loc. Schiopparello, 30 | tel. 0565.940020 | www.montefabbrello.it