The Frescobaldi are certainly on the march, what with their forthcoming involvement in Ornellaia with partner Robert Mondavi of California and now the acquisition on their own account of another large estate on the Tuscan coast (150 hectares of land, of which 120 will become vineyards) south of Pisa, near a hamlet called Nugola about 12km inland. This loam, sand and clay will presumably be planted with (yet more) Bordeaux varieties. A new DOC, virtually created for the new Lodovico and Piero Antinori project, Terratico di Bibbona, may well eventually encompass this new project from arch-rivals Frescobaldi.
Also in the province of Pisa, but in the heart of the more mainstream Chianti Colline Pisane area, Giorgio Rivetti of Piemonte has bought 40 hectares of vineyards near Terriciola where he intends to concentrate on great Sangiovese and intends having no truck with Bordeaux grape varieties. Trial wines made from Sangiovese and Colorino on a rented estate near Casciana Terme in 2000 and 2001 show great promise according to Florence-based wine writer Daniel Thomases.
