Teruzzi Where Past, Present & Future Meet in Tuscany
Past, present, and future come together at Teruzzi. This state-of-the-art winery is dedicated to exploring innovative solutions to produce high-quality Tuscan wines, while respecting the local heritage and ancient history of Tuscany’s great winemaking traditions. Teruzzi epitomizes the vision of the Moretti family. They are committed to advancing wine estates with a strong place of origin, heritage, nobility, and personality, like that of San Gimignano, a true medieval jewel, and its most precious resource, vernaccia.
Enrico Teruzzi and his wife, Carmen, founded the Teruzzi winery in 1974. From the outset, they focused their efforts on the enhancement of Vernaccia di San Gimignano, the region’s signature white wine and, in 1966, the first Italian wine to be granted DOC status. They combined a strong, innovative mindset with continuous attention to sustainability.
In 2016, the renowned Moretti family purchased the Teruzzi estate. Led by founder Vittorio Moretti and his daughter Francesca, who is the CEO and Managing Director of the family company, they endeavored to take over where Teruzzi’s founders left off. Assisted by Giuseppe Caviola, one of Italy’s most respected consulting winemakers, they have continued to produce beautifully elegant, classic wines from San Gimignano — including Teruzzi’s famous Terre di Tufi, which is credited as one of the first white Super Tuscan wines.
Along with making exceptional wines, the Moretti family is committed to protecting Teruzzi’s most precious resources. In addition to sustainable farming practices, the family engages in social and economic sustainability, with the ongoing aim of providing for its employees and leaving a better company for future generations. For these efforts, Teruzzi received Equalitas international certification as a Sustainable Organization, an extremely limited and difficult to obtain honor.
Crafted with traditional Tuscan winemaking practices, Teruzzi wines offer a classic expression of San Gimignano — vibrant, lean, and elegant. They are a wonderful representation of what makes this historic region so special, a proud testament to the Moretti family’s expertise, and a standard bearer for the future of sustainable, ethical winemaking in Tuscany.
Favorable Terroir & Sustainable Farming in San Gimignano
Surrounded by vineyards, olive groves, cultivated fields, and wild woods — the typical biodiversity of Tuscany — the town of San Gimignano lies about 50 kilometers / 31 miles southwest of Florence. Tuscany’s most important white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, has been produced here since the Middle Ages. In fact, in 1966, it became the first Italian wine to be granted DOC status.
Grouped into four large areas — Casetta, Racciano, Montegonfoli, and Ponte Rondolino, in the municipality of San Gimignano, with an additional 16 hectares / 40 acres in Suvereto — the Teruzzi properties benefit from a variety of soils (predominantly yellow sand and sandy clay), altitudes (ranging from 120 to 300 meters / 393 to 984 feet), gradients, and microclimates. It is a kaleidoscope of zones and subzones, with plots and vineyards capable of producing many different expressions of vernaccia, a grape that is exceptionally sensitive to soil variations and the favorable climatic influence of the nearby Tyrrhenian Sea.
Viticulture
The Teruzzi estate stretches over 180 hectares / 444 acres, with 93 hectares / 232 acres planted to vine. With 60 hectares / 148 acres dedicated to the vernaccia grape variety, Teruzzi owns the largest expanse of vernaccia out of any winery in Tuscany. The estate also grows trebbiano, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, sangiovese, and merlot.
Always attentive to environmental sustainability, the Moretti family have eliminated the use of chemical fertilizers and weed killers. Instead, they use green manure to naturally enrich the soil and dig over plants that they sow or that grow spontaneously between the rows of vines. They have also significantly reduced the use of crop protection agents and utilize grape marc and stalks to make compost for the vineyards. Additionally, the atomizzatori da recupero (recovering vaporizers or sprayers) farming method allows them to conserve roughly 50% of their water.
Traditional Winemaking & Classic Elegance
The Teruzzi team practices traditional winemaking methods, resulting in elegant, terroir-driven wines from San Gimignano. Grapes are harvested by hand and sorted in boxes before transport. In the winery, the skins macerate for one night, followed by a gentle pressing the day after harvest and cold settling of the must. After fermentation in stainless steel tanks, the wines rest in either stainless steel or a combination of stainless steel and oak barrels, depending on the desired style.
