Where is Tenuta La Ghiaia and how do you reach it?

The estate is in Sarzana, in the province of La Spezia, at the eastern edge of Liguria. Sarzana railway station and the A12 motorway exit are a short drive away. The Cinque Terre National Park is roughly 25 km from the estate. Pisa airport is around 70 km south and Genoa airport around 100 km north.

What wines does Tenuta La Ghiaia make?

The cellar focuses on Vermentino, with three labels: the estate-level Tenuta La Ghiaia, the older-vine Atys and the more reflective Ithaa. Each comes from different vine ages and winemaking approaches. There is also Undicinodi, a Colli di Luni DOC red built on Sangiovese with Ciliegiolo, Canaiolo and Merlot from a 1980s parcel. A Liguria di Levante IGT rosato completes the range. The estate produces extra-virgin olive oil as well.

Is the estate organic?

Yes. The estate says its five hectares of vineyard are farmed under organic management ("conduzione biologica"). The vines root deep into the gravel subsoil of the old Magra riverbed. The official site does not name a third-party certification body for this.

Can I visit the cellar and taste the wines?

Yes, by request. The estate runs guided cellar visits with tastings of its three Vermentini and its Colli di Luni DOC red. They take place in the long arched tasting room set inside the cellar, often paired with local Lunigiana products. Tastings are booked through the resort. The cellar phone is +39 331 305 3842.

Can you stay overnight at Tenuta La Ghiaia?

Yes. The nineteenth-century manor house is run as a Maison de Charme with five suites: Suite, Suite Deluxe, Executive Suite, Junior Suite and Family Suite. Each has a private bath, a garden balcony and air conditioning. Breakfast is served in the cellar's arched dining room. A welcome glass of estate wine is included on arrival.

What is there to do near the estate?

Sarzana itself is a walled medieval town. The estate is set up as a base for the Cinque Terre, Portovenere and the Gulf of Poets, the Apuan Alps and the Tuscan coast at Forte dei Marmi. On the property there is a seasonal outdoor pool, a garden, an equipped gym and bicycles on request. There is golf at Lerici, tennis nearby and beach clubs along the Gulf of Poets.

Tenuta La Ghiaia

Tenuta La Ghiaia is the Lotti family's wine estate at Sarzana, where Liguria meets Tuscany under the Apuan Alps. Luciano Lotti planted the first vines in the late 1960s. His daughter Olivia leads the estate today. The family farms five hectares of Vermentino and Colli di Luni DOC reds, about seven football pitches of vines. They grow on the gravel bed of the old Magra river. The estate is a cellar and a five-suite Maison de Charme in one. Vineyard tastings and overnight stays share the same nineteenth-century manor.

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The manor house at Tenuta La Ghiaia behind a garden of red flowers and olive trees

About Tenuta La Ghiaia

Sarzana sits at the easternmost tip of Liguria, just inside the border with Tuscany. The Romans called this corner of Italy Luni. Tenuta La Ghiaia farms an amphitheatre of vines here. The Apuan Alps shelter it to the east, the Gulf of Poets to the west. The land is the ancient bed of the Magra river. The gravel gives the property its name: ghiaia is Italian for gravel.

Luciano Lotti bought the estate in the late 1960s. He was a longtime expert in winemaking. He wanted to plant his own vineyard on the border between Liguria and Tuscany. He set out Vermentino alongside Merlot, Sangiovese and a handful of native varieties he knew. He ran the property with the patience of someone who wanted it to outlive him. His daughter Olivia took over and leads the estate today. The new vines that ring the original parcels are dedicated to her father.

The whole vineyard is farmed to organic methods inside the Colli di Luni DOC zone. The subsoil is river stone and glacial gravel, and the vines root deep into it. The family credits that ground for the briny, almost stony lift in the wines. That is the taste they look for in the glass. The vineyards sit open to the sky, between the Mediterranean breeze and cold Apennine air. Warm days and much cooler nights keep the harvest aromatic and tense. Vermentino is the grape the cellar treats as its signature.

The cellar is recent, sober and built into the slope. Barrels age underground beneath brick cross-vaults. Fermentation happens in stainless steel. Longer-aged wines go into tonneaux and egg-shaped concrete tanks. The bottles then rest in a vault before release. From this small set of tools come three Vermentini. There is the estate-level Tenuta La Ghiaia, the older-vine Atys and the more reflective Ithaa. Undicinodi is the Colli di Luni DOC red, built on Sangiovese with Ciliegiolo, Canaiolo and Merlot. The fruit comes from a 1980s parcel that helped define the DOC. A Liguria di Levante IGT rosato completes the wines. The estate also presses an extra-virgin olive oil from its own groves.

The nineteenth-century manor at the top of the property is now a five-suite Maison de Charme. Guests sleep in vintage rooms with garden balconies and air conditioning. Breakfast is served in a long arched room set inside the cellar. From there guests walk straight into the vines for tastings. Sarzana railway station and the A12 motorway are minutes away. The Cinque Terre, Portovenere, the Via Francigena and the Forte dei Marmi coast all sit inside an easy day trip.

Editorial · ItalianWines.co.uk

Plate I · LIGURIA

Tenuta La Ghiaia on the Liguria wine atlas

Anchored in Colli di Luni, the editorial heart of Liguria.

Via Falcinello, 127, 19038 Sarzana, La Spezia (Liguria)

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Visit & Experiences

2 bookable experiences at Tenuta La Ghiaia

1 tasting and 1 stay, checked by our editors.

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Tastings 1 bookable Tours 1 bookable Accommodation 1 bookable

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Tasting & Tour

Cellar Tasting and Vineyard Walk

Guided visit of the underground barricaia and vineyards on the gravel of the old Magra riverbed, followed by a tasting of the estate's three Vermentini and Colli di Luni DOC red, often paired with local Lunigiana products. Bookable through the resort on request.

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Accommodation

Maison de Charme Suite Stay

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Overnight stay in one of five suites in the nineteenth-century manor (Suite, Suite Deluxe, Executive Suite, Junior Suite or Family Suite), each with private bath, garden balcony and air conditioning. Breakfast is served in the cellar's arched dining room, with a welcome glass of estate Vermentino on arrival, plus a seasonal outdoor pool and garden.

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Via Falcinello, 127, 19038 Sarzana, La Spezia (Liguria)

+39 0187627307

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Common questions

The estate is in Sarzana, in the province of La Spezia, at the eastern edge of Liguria. Sarzana railway station and the A12 motorway exit are a short drive away. The Cinque Terre National Park is roughly 25 km from the estate. Pisa airport is around 70 km south and Genoa airport around 100 km north.
The cellar focuses on Vermentino, with three labels: the estate-level Tenuta La Ghiaia, the older-vine Atys and the more reflective Ithaa. Each comes from different vine ages and winemaking approaches. There is also Undicinodi, a Colli di Luni DOC red built on Sangiovese with Ciliegiolo, Canaiolo and Merlot from a 1980s parcel. A Liguria di Levante IGT rosato completes the range. The estate produces extra-virgin olive oil as well.
Yes. The estate says its five hectares of vineyard are farmed under organic management ("conduzione biologica"). The vines root deep into the gravel subsoil of the old Magra riverbed. The official site does not name a third-party certification body for this.
Yes, by request. The estate runs guided cellar visits with tastings of its three Vermentini and its Colli di Luni DOC red. They take place in the long arched tasting room set inside the cellar, often paired with local Lunigiana products. Tastings are booked through the resort. The cellar phone is +39 331 305 3842.
Yes. The nineteenth-century manor house is run as a Maison de Charme with five suites: Suite, Suite Deluxe, Executive Suite, Junior Suite and Family Suite. Each has a private bath, a garden balcony and air conditioning. Breakfast is served in the cellar's arched dining room. A welcome glass of estate wine is included on arrival.
Sarzana itself is a walled medieval town. The estate is set up as a base for the Cinque Terre, Portovenere and the Gulf of Poets, the Apuan Alps and the Tuscan coast at Forte dei Marmi. On the property there is a seasonal outdoor pool, a garden, an equipped gym and bicycles on request. There is golf at Lerici, tennis nearby and beach clubs along the Gulf of Poets.

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