Italy · Bolgheri & Etruscan Coast

Tenuta Argentiera

Coastal Bolgheri estate at the southern edge of the DOC, producing Merlot-led Bordeaux blends from five named hillside plots above the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The producer

Tenuta Argentiera stands closer to the Tyrrhenian Sea than any other winery in Bolgheri DOC, a position that shapes everything about the wines. The 153-hectare estate near Donoratico was founded in 1999 and has been owned since 2016 by Austrian entrepreneur Stanislaus Turnauer. Eighty-five hectares are planted to Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc across five named sites at elevations between 80 and 220 metres. Marine breezes move through the vineyards through the season, and the site curves into an open shape facing the water, catching reflected light. All grapes are hand-harvested and each plot is vinified separately in stainless steel before the wines mature in French-oak barriques of mixed age.

The range runs three labels. Argentiera Bolgheri DOC Superiore blends 46% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc into a full-bodied red with dark fruit, cedar, firm tannin and a long finish framed by oak. Villa Donoratico, the second red, draws from the same varieties at a lighter register: blackberries, dark cherries and soft ripe tannins with fresh acidity and a clean medium finish. I Pianali, a Toscana IGT rosato, turns toward strawberry and citrus with the brightness the coastal site and stainless-steel vinification produce. Production is estimated at close to half a million bottles, with every grape still picked by hand.

Known for

Bolgheri DOC red wines, particularly Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon blends vinified plot by plot from five named coastal hillside sites.

Notable facts

The story

Silver Ground

Before its first vintage in 1999, the land at Donoratico had already carried two earlier lives. The Serristori family, one of Florence's old merchant dynasties, had kept the property as a summer estate: a retreat from the city on a hillside above the Tyrrhenian coast. Before the Serristoris, the hillside had been worked for silver. The Italian word for silver is argento, and the place had accumulated its name from the mining long before the Florentines arrived. When the modern wine estate was established and a label was needed, no one changed it. Argentiera, a word with metal in the ground and a merchant family's summer written into it, now appears on every bottle the estate produces.

From the atlas

Tenuta Argentiera

At A Glance

The Producer

Tenuta Argentiera stands at the southern edge of Bolgheri DOC, closer to the Tyrrhenian Sea than any other winery in the denomination. The name reaches back before wine: the hillside at Donoratico was once dug for silver, the Italian word for which is argento, and the place carried that name long before a single vine was planted. The modern estate was founded in 1999 and has been owned since 2016 by Austrian entrepreneur Stanislaus Turnauer.

The 153-hectare property surrounds 85 hectares of vineyards, and the scale is consequential. Production is estimated at close to half a million bottles, while Argentiera still harvests every grape by hand. The wines are Bordeaux blends. Bolgheri built its reputation on exactly these varieties, and Argentiera works within that tradition from a site that adds a coastal dimension most of the DOC's producers do not have.

Place

Bolgheri DOC is a coastal Tuscan appellation running south along the Maremma, planted primarily to Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The DOC made its name in the 1970s and 1980s when estates here proved that the Tuscan coast could ripen Bordeaux varieties to a level that competed internationally. The designation covers a long corridor, and position within it matters: distance from the sea, elevation, and soil type all shift what the grapes deliver.

Argentiera sits at the denomination's southern tip, near Donoratico, and the proximity to the water is measurable in the growing conditions. Marine breezes move through the vineyards through the season, moderating summer heat and maintaining acidity in the wines. The vineyards reach up to 220 metres, which is high for this part of Bolgheri, and the elevation adds another cooling layer that slows ripening and preserves freshness. On the Bolgheri DOC label, wines at this weight and composition fall under the Bolgheri DOC Superiore designation for the flagship, or Bolgheri DOC for the second wine.

Soil And Site

Five named vineyard sites are Argentiera, Ginestre, Ventaglio, Porcarecce and Ceccosodo, ranging from 80 to 220 metres. The 85 hectares of estate vineyards are divided into four clearly-defined viticultural areas, with different soil compositions and microclimates. The range of terrain is wide enough that a single plot is unlikely to represent the whole estate, which is part of the rationale for vinifying each one separately.

The estate site faces the sea and the vineyards curve into what the estate describes as an open conch shape, an orientation that catches reflected light from the water and concentrates the marine airflow across the canopy. Within the 153-hectare property, 68 hectares are given over to woodland and other vegetation, which the estate manages as a biodiversity buffer around the vines, reducing pest pressure without relying on heavy chemical inputs. Argentiera holds no organic certification, but the approach in the vineyard aims for minimal intervention.

Story

When Argentiera was established in 1999, Bolgheri was already understood internationally as a red-wine address, and the founders chose Bordeaux varieties from the outset. The estate did not need to make an argument for planting Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon on this coast; that argument had been made for them by earlier estates in the denomination.

The change in ownership in 2016 brought Stanislaus Turnauer to the estate. Under his stewardship, the winery invested in a gravity-fed cellar that extends underground, moving production from the vineyard through fermentation and into barrel without pumps. The cellar design is not cosmetic. Moving wine by gravity reduces mechanical stress on fruit, and maintaining that care across the full production run requires the facility to be built around the principle, not applied selectively.

The five named plots, the separate plot vinification, and the gravity cellar together describe a producer working at meaningful commercial scale while holding to practices that are more typical of smaller estates.

Vineyards And Cellar

Every plot is harvested separately and vinified in stainless steel. The goal is to preserve the character of each site before blending, which means fermentation happens in conditions that do not add oak flavour or change the fruit profile of the individual plot. The fruit arrives at the cellar at ground level and moves downward through the facility by gravity alone.

After fermentation, the wines mature in French-oak barriques of different ages and toast levels. New oak adds more tannin and vanilla character; older barrels contribute less, allowing the grape and site character to carry more weight. Using a mix of ages across the same wine means the winemaker can adjust the proportion of new-oak influence from vintage to vintage without the blending decision being constrained by a fixed regime. The final assembly brings the plot wines together before bottling.

All grapes are hand-harvested. At 85 hectares, that is a significant commitment to manual selection.

Wines

The range runs across three labels. Argentiera Bolgheri DOC Superiore is the flagship: 46% Merlot, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc, fermented in stainless steel and matured in French-oak barriques of mixed age and toast. It is a full-bodied red with the grip and concentration that come from the blended grape weight of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon at high plot elevation, and the cellar treatment adds oak frame without overwhelming the fruit. Tasting notes on the 2020 vintage point to dark fruit, well-integrated oak and a long finish.

Villa Donoratico is the estate's second red, bottled as Bolgheri DOC. It draws from the same three Bordeaux varieties at a lighter register. A tasting note on the 2021 vintage described blackberries, dark cherries and dark plums with soft, ripe tannins, fresh acidity and a medium finish: the same grape palette as the flagship but without the full barrel weight, and without the concentration that comes from selecting only the highest-elevation plots.

I Pianali is a rosato produced under the Toscana IGT designation. The 2023 vintage was described as vibrant, with strawberry and citrus character and clean freshness. It sits outside the Bolgheri DOC category and outside the red-wine architecture of the estate, but it draws on the same coastal-site conditions that drive acidity in the estate's reds.

In The Glass

The Argentiera Superiore opens with dark fruit, cedar and a faint saline note that is consistent with the coastal site and the marine airflow through the vineyards. In the mouth, Merlot gives the wine body and plum-skin softness in the mid-palate, while Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc contribute firmer tannin along the gumline and through the finish. The oak is present but integrated: a frame of vanilla and spice that holds without dominating. Acidity is firm enough to keep the wine moving through a long finish.

Villa Donoratico carries the same dark-fruit register, blackberry and dark cherry, but the tannins are softer and the body lighter. The acidity is fresh and the finish medium, which means the wine closes cleanly without the Superiore's extra weight. I Pianali turns toward red fruit and citrus, with the brightness that coastal air and separate-plot vinification in stainless steel tends to produce when the varieties are handled without oak.

A Bottle To Understand It

Villa Donoratico is the right first bottle. It is a Bolgheri DOC red from the same Bordeaux varieties and the same coastal plots that produce the flagship, vinified and assembled at a lighter register. The fruit is dark and clear: blackberries, dark cherries, dark plums. The tannins are soft and ripe rather than gripping, the acidity is fresh, and the finish is clean and medium-length. There is no excess oak, no demand for years in the cellar, and no complexity that requires prior experience with the estate.

Anecdote

Before its first vintage in 1999, the land at Donoratico had already carried two earlier lives. The Serristori family, one of Florence's old merchant dynasties, had kept the property as a summer estate: a retreat from the city on a hillside above the Tyrrhenian coast. Before the Serristoris, the hillside had been worked for silver. The Italian word for silver is argento, and the place had accumulated its name from the mining long before the Florentines arrived. When the modern wine estate was established and a label was needed, no one changed it. Argentiera, a word with metal in the ground and a merchant family's summer written into it, now appears on every bottle the estate produces.

Final Word

Argentiera is a large-scale Bolgheri estate operating from the denomination's most coastal position with a site-specific approach: five named plots, separate vinification, a gravity cellar, and hand harvesting across 85 hectares. The flagship delivers the full Bordeaux-blend weight that Bolgheri made its name on. Villa Donoratico delivers the same in a form suited to a glass.

Sources

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