Montepepe

The place

Montepepe is located on a small, almost unique hill in the Apuo-Versiliese flatland, at about 5 km from the Tyrrhenian sea. Shaped as a regular cone, the hill’s surface is characterized by different color strips and different cultivations depending on the altitude. The olive grove begins from the flatland with a strip of terraces of vibrant green-grey colors. After that follows the vineyard with dark red stone walls, and finally the Forest, mainly formed by maritime pines, but with also patches of oaks, turkey oaks or cane-apple trees. Over the last years, to answer the necessity of the winery more and more focused towards the production of high-level wines, we built a semi-pogea fermentation room with an olive wood ceiling that regulates naturally the temperature of the environment. The project of the new fermentation room, as well as the long restoration of the Villa, have been designed by Alberto Poggi Architecture Studio.

Montepepe

The villa

At the foot of the Montepepe hill, we find the Villa that after a long restoration is now available again to be used as Relias with its Suites and his apartments. The building has a history that starts in the second half the 18th century with the construction of the first “Palazzina”, and that is also extremely connected with the vineyard located above the Villa. It is in fact at the beginning of the 19th century, as reported by Abbot Guidoni, that Carlo Ludovico di Borbone Duke of Lucca decided to purchase “the delightful hill of Montepepe, where he grew some french-style vineyards with vigneron from Bordeaux which produced some excellent wine under the skillful direction of the oenologist Alessandro de Geres, who he employed directly from France”. On the ground floor of the Villa we can find an 18th-century cellar: a treasure where our wines still go through vinification today. At the upper levels apartments and Suites for guests. Every room has a unique story to tell and the restauration wanted to explore and show the complexity of these stories, recovering floors, ceilings and the true identity of the spaces. The ‘L’ shape structure of the building encloses a south facing courtyard with a full view of the Tyrrhenian sea. From this big terrace, ornate by century-old palm trees and by turkey oaks, we can descent to the terraces leading to the historic citrus grove with orange, Feijoa and Mandarin tree. After that the lemon orchard next to the stone wall and down below an ample terrace paved in white marble from Carrara with a swimming pool. The ‘L’ shape structure of the building encloses a south facing courtyard with a full view of the Tyrrhenian sea. From this big terrace, ornate by century-old palm trees and by turkey oaks, we can descent to the terraces leading to the historic citrus grove with orange, Feijoa and Mandarin tree. After that the lemon orchard next to the stone wall and down below an ample terrace paved in white marble from Carrara with a swimming pool.