This is a WOW winery I visited in November and tasting the wines here was a fabulous treat. Not to mention a stunning contemporary structure designed by the famed Swiss architect Mario Botta (who also designed the San Francisco Museum of ModernArt).

– Colleen Lamont, Peak Travel Agent

A little about the Petra Winery

It’s the dream of every wine lover who has allowed themselves to be seduced by the rolling vineyards, forests, and olive groves of Tuscany: to find a little corner to call your own and to join in the age-old tradition of coaxing luscious wines out of the soil. For Vittorio Moretti and his daughter, Francesca, who discovered this beautiful seaside estate while on vacation nearby, the dream came true. In 1997 the pair founded this small boutique winery in Maremma Toscana in Suvereto, where the hills of Val di Cornia rise toward the Colline Metallifere.

Three hundred hectares make up the peaceful estate, although only a third is planted with vineyards. Sitting on the edge of the Tirreno Sea, they’re constantly caressed by the breezes blowing in off the Follonica Gulf. The soil of the steep slopes here (which form part of the Colline Metallifere, or “Metal-Yielding Hills”) is particularly mineral-rich and ruddy colored, leading to strong-willed, complex wines. The vineyards’ layout, which is a patchwork of different varieties (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Petit Verdot, Syrah and Cabernet Franc) seemingly strewn about randomly, is no coincidence. The arrangement is based on long and careful studies of the soil, wind, sun and climate conditions in each area of the estate. Only the vines most suited to a particular area were planted there.