Petra

The Wonderful Story of a Female Challenge

The Princess’ Vineyard and Gardens

The memory of nature has deep roots. Francesca Moretti was still at university when the first vine varietals were planted: she was the one who chose, on the basis of an already clear vision, what to grow on this terroir, extremely suitable but ready for a new reinterpretation, and her choice favoured international varieties, in addition to sangiovese and vermentino varieties, the start of a path which was already pointing to the highest levels of delightfulness and contemporaneity.

Two centuries earlier, Elisa Bonaparte, too, had planted cabernet-sauvignon and Merlot grapes in a 5-hectares plot which later became known as the Princess Vineyard. A circle that closes in our times, with the project that has been lovingly planned by Francesca, to recreate the historical Vineyard in the places that saw her grow up. The Princess Elisa’s Gardens is included in this, a collection of aromatic herbs which faithfully reproduces the original plan, on a panoramic terrace adjacent to the winery, according to the illustration of the historical botanist Paolo Tomei, from the University of Siena.

Our Maremma - A Natural Oasis

When someone arrives at Petra for the first time, they are enchanted by the power of nature and by a light that has an uncommon depth at these latitudes.

The estate is steeped in a very special ecosystem, which breathes and whispers, permeated by warmth and with an underground current which pervades the soil and reaches us through the produce of the land – grapes, but a lot more too.

Petra’s landscape and nature are unique: the green belt of the Colline Metallifere, near the Montioni Natural Park, with the Poggio Tre Cancelli Natural Reserve, up to the Sterpaia Coastal Park, looking over the Tyrrhenian Sea, a constant presence on the horizon, a single blue tone in a landscape otherwise dominated by two essential colours – green and russet.

The hot summers are tempered by the brackish coastal winds, and the Mediterranean scrub, where Turkey oak, cork and arbutus mix with heather, mastic and myrtle, is home to deer, boars, porcupines, hedgehogs, badgers, foxes, kestrels, buzzards and owls. A cohesive coexistence and a spontaneous dialogue link Petra to its land, starting from the light environmental footprint of its winemaking and agricultural practices.

Terroir - A Multiplicity to Know and Valorize

A natural predisposition can be a limitation or an opportunity: the final result depends on its interpretation, on the people who work the land with devotion and competence to extract its essence. The area of Suvereto is rich of winemaking traditions which go back to the time of the Greeks and the Etruscans, who made wine in amphoras, and who carried out a prosperous metal trade here. But the land’s pedigree is not enough, especially when it is so nuanced: Petra is a collection of landscapes and microclimates, a series of substrates.

A first zoning process carried out by Attilio Scienza highlighted the presence of a superficial stony and dry layer of tectonic origins, followed by a layer rich in manganese and other metals, of alluvial origins, and a basal muddy layer. This study was followed by a detailed cartographic classification of the property, in cooperation with CREA in Florence: a wealth of essential scientific data to understand how best to express the vineyards’ potential.

Agricultural Company - Not a Soil But a Succession of Soils

Francesca Moretti loves to sink her hands in the soil and also for this reason she wanted the estate to retain its original agricultural DNA intact. First of all, this is an agricultural company: here cultivation and breeding goes on, in the respect of biodiversity. Particular attention is paid to the safeguarding of ancient and threatened breeds and varieties, such as the black Valdarno, white Valdarnese and Livorno hens, which will shortly be joined by Cinta Senese and Grigio Toscano pigs, and Montecristo goats, the only example of goats living in the wild since ancient times and at risk of extinction, received in custody from the Tuscany region for the only purpose of safekeeping. A cheese production project is also being planned with a team from the University of Florence which follows a flock near Podere Flecetone, on the Amiata mountain. Cultivation of vegetables and wild salads for use in the kitchen will go hand in hand with the cultivation of ancient seeds, stored and exchanged within the Tuscan Cultivators network, of which Petra is a member. The winery restaurant celebrates hospitality and discovery, and is open by appointment for the tasting of typical local products, in combination with wines from the estate.

Wine Identity - Philosophy

A strong protective instinct moves all those who live Petra, from Francesca Moretti to the men who work in the vineyard and in the olive groves. They protect the equilibrium of a natural system which demands respect and sensitivity to be enhanced and to return value and exhilaration.

The work, from the vine to the cellar, is therefore meticulous and non-invasive, agricultural practices follow an organic regime and the environmental impact, also in the winery activities, is reduced to a minimum. Consultancy by Marco Simonit followed the consultancy of the agronomist Ruggero Mazzilli, which set the path to organic conversion to the point of certification. Beppe Caviola curates the transformation of the grapes into wine without manipulations or forcing, exploiting gravity, natural light and the energy supplied by a floating solar panel system (which does not steal land from agriculture) to extract a contemporary and pleasant note, and distil the sometime luxurious warmth and splendid passion of this land in our wines. Expression of the natural imprint of the territory are also our oils, the result of pure and genuine passion for the olive tree.

Petra Wines - The Memory of The Past and The Force of Nature

Near the ancient village of Suvereto, land of the suvere, majestic oaks produce cork on the iron hills of the Val di Cornia and with a glimpse of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

It’s here, in the spectacular nature of the Maremma, that the magic of Petra was born.

Belvento Wines - The Wind, The Sea, The Mediterranean Scrub

“I Vini del Mare” selection, a range inspired by the maritime identity and the wild nature of this particular area of Tuscany.

Cellar Model - Architecture

The Swiss architect Mario Botta, appointed by Vittorio Moretti to give shape and purpose to the operative heart of Petra, described in this way the spirit of the project.

A single frontage downstream, with a 25 m tall central cylindrical body and oriented 45/90 degrees with respect to the vine-rows around it. Totemic and organic, the symbol of a sensitive approach to a technological process, the cylinder includes the activities of reception and, at his heart, the winemaking activities. The roof – an inclined plane parallel to the hill – is the place where the grape clusters are gathered: from here the grapes, separated from the stem, fall softly into the maceration and fermentation tanks.

Soft, respectful, with a low impact, like the overall approach that leads from the grapes to the bottle. In the heart of the hill are the aging chambers (in casks and bottles) and, in addition to the space reserved to Slavonian oak barrels, a long gallery penetrates deeply and comes to an end in front of a solid rock wall.This is the final place, a space for meeting and reflecting, as the Rivadossi Altar suggests. An umbilical cord that links Petra to the petra mater of the Colline Metallifere.

Products Petra