Elisabetta Geppetti was twenty when she took the reins of Fattoria Le Pupille in 1985. Her grandfather and then her father-in-law Alfredo, known as Fredi, had passed on their love of the vine. The Maremma was not yet counted among the great wine areas, and she set out to change that. As a producer and as the first president of the Morellino di Scansano producers' consortium, she became known as the Lady of Morellino. Today she runs the estate with her children. Clara joined in 2011 and looks after export markets, the brand and hospitality. Ettore studied agricultural science at the University of Pisa and has led production since 2019. The wines now sell in more than thirty countries.
The estate covers 420 hectares. Water traces its borders, from the sea at Monte Argentario to the hot springs of Saturnia and the Ombrone river, with Monte Amiata in view. Its vineyards and woods of oak, holm oak and cork lie up to 30 kilometres apart. About 6,000 olive trees give the estate its oil. The vines take up 85 hectares, about 120 football pitches, at up to 350 metres above sea level. The soils are mostly sandstone. Pian di Fiora has grey and red clay, and Saffredi and Poggio Valente stonier, quartz-rich ground. The Morellino plots sit between Istia d'Ombrone, Pereta and Magliano in Toscana, where breezes come in from the Tyrrhenian Sea. Sangiovese, Alicante and Ciliegiolo grow beside Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Syrah. A smaller share is white grapes: Sauvignon Blanc, Petit Manseng, Traminer and Semillon. The estate holds Italy's VIVA sustainability certification.
Four wines carry the estate's history. The Morellino di Scansano Riserva was first made in 1978, the year the DOC was created. It was then called Rosso di Pereta, and it still wears the same label. It is Sangiovese with a little Cabernet Sauvignon, and it spends 15 months in large oak casks. Morellino di Scansano has been the estate's calling card since 1985. It is Sangiovese with a little Alicante and Ciliegiolo, kept six months in steel so it stays fresh. The 2025 won Tre Bicchieri from Gambero Rosso in October 2026. The estate's first Tre Bicchieri had come with Saffredi. Saffredi is the wine that made the name. Elisabetta created it with the winemaker Giacomo Tachis and named it after Fredi. The first vintage was 1987, and the 2027 release will be the fortieth. It blends Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot from a vineyard at Pereta, twenty minutes from the sea. There the rows face the sunset and the salt wind. It ages 18 months in small French oak barrels, seven in ten of them new. The 2023 scored 98 points in the Falstaff Wine Guide 2027 and five bunches from Bibenda. Wine Spectator placed the 2019 eighth in its world Top 10. Poggio Valente is her first Sangiovese cru. It comes from a single plot at 350 metres, the highest on the estate, facing the village of Pereta and Monte Amiata. She bought it in 1996, and in the 2000s it was replanted with Sangiovese alone.
Two wines are the children's own projects. Le Pupille is a Syrah from two vineyards, a project Elisabetta shared with Clara. The grapes of the two vineyards ferment apart, one lot in open wooden vats and the other in terracotta jars. The name recalls that pairing: two creators, two vineyards, two methods. Piemme is a Petit Manseng made with Ettore since the 2018 harvest, from a small plot of tufa soil. Its name is the grape's initials. RosaMati, a Syrah rosé Elisabetta created in 2007, remembers Fredi's mother Rosa Mati. Pelofino is the young red and Poggio Argentato the historic white. Solalto, the sweet wine Elisabetta wanted to make in the Maremma, is a passito from grapes dried on the vine, about 2,000 half bottles in the best years. Its label is a drawing Clara made as a child.
The visit begins on a country road lined with maritime pines, at a large yellow farmhouse with two old globes by the door. A tour takes in the estate, the cellar and the wine shop. The shop is open Monday to Friday from 8.30 to 19.00 and on Saturday from 11.00 to 19.00. The estate has put together three tastings for our readers. They run from a one-hour flight of three Morellino at 35 euro a person to the Riserva, Poggio Valente and Saffredi at 80 euro. Each includes the full tour and bread with the estate's olive oil. Its own website sells a dozen more experiences, from a sunset aperitivo to a picnic among the vines.
Tuscany
10 wines 
Tastings
Tours
Booking required
