Tua Rita wines: a €19 vermentino and a €51 Lodano

Flip the name and you have the founder. Tua Rita is Rita Tua, the woman who started this estate in Suvereto in 1984. I looked that up before I pulled a single cork, because two bottles of Tua Rita wines had just arrived from Cellarmasters, the estate’s new importer in the Netherlands.

One costs €18.95. The other costs €50.95. I tasted them back to back on camera and would buy both, just not for the same evening.

Two hectares and no business plan

Rita Tua and Virgilio Bisti bought two hectares on the Tuscan coast, south of Bolgheri, with half a hectare of Sangiovese planted on it. Selling wine wasn’t the point. They wanted to live on the land and farm it, and the first estate bottling only came in 1992.

Eight years later Robert Parker gave Redigaffi 2000, their single-parcel Merlot, a perfect 100. That score put Tua Rita on every Super Tuscan shortlist since. Virgilio died in 2010; his daughter Simena Bisti and her husband Stefano Frascolla run the estate now, on clay soils studded with stone, minerals and pink marble between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Colline Metallifere.

Perlato del Bosco: the weeknight bottle

Pure Vermentino, raised in steel only, made since 1992. Provence calls the same grape Rolle. White flowers, peach and apricot on the nose, then a dry, herb-lined palate: sage, rosemary, thyme, even a leaf of basil, with a small bitter twist at the end.

It isn’t complex, and the finish is medium at best. It is clean and precise, though, and at €18.95 I’m a fan.

What I didn’t find was the salt. The importer promises a saline, sea-breeze edge. My glass gave herbs, not sea, so don’t buy it expecting a briny coastal white.

Lodano Rosso: the long-dinner bottle

Lodano Rosso only dates from 2017. It is 60 percent Petit Verdot and 40 percent Merlot, aged about 18 months in French barriques. In Bordeaux, Petit Verdot is a seasoning grape, a few percent for colour and spice. Here it leads.

Deep ruby, with blackberry, black cherry, forest floor and juniper, then the oak arrives: nutmeg, cocoa, grated coconut. Full-bodied, with firm tannins. Right now the new wood sits in front of the fruit, so give it time in a decanter. I also put it in the fridge for 45 minutes before pouring, and at 14 percent alcohol I’d recommend the same.

Which one I’d buy

Both, in different roles. Perlato del Bosco is the bottle you open on a Tuesday while you cook. Lodano wants a long table and something with tomato sauce: pasta, lasagne, a proper pizza.

One caveat on price. Cellarmasters lists Lodano Rosso 2023 at €50.95, and I tasted the 2024. The newer vintage may taste and cost differently once it reaches the shop.

For readers in the Netherlands: Cellarmasters is a young, independent importer run by three people, mostly supplying restaurants and wine shops, with a webshop on the side. The code ONTDEKCM10 was on the card that came with the bottles and gives 10 percent off. I earn nothing from it.

Sources

Primary source: Tua Rita, history, for founding, name and early years
Primary source: Tua Rita technical pages for Lodano Rosso and Perlato del Bosco, for grapes, ageing, first vintage and soil
Additional: Cellarmasters product pages, for price and vintage on sale, accessed 11 September 2026
Additional: Cellarmasters, about us, for team and portfolio, accessed 11 September 2026
Additional: cover letter from Cellarmasters with the press samples, September 2026, including the Redigaffi 100-point score
Additional: back labels and digital e-labels on both bottles, for alcohol and ingredients

Frequently asked questions

What does the name Tua Rita mean?

It is the founder’s name, Rita Tua, with first name and surname swapped. She started the estate in 1984 with her husband Virgilio Bisti in Suvereto, on the Tuscan coast.

Where can you buy Tua Rita in the Netherlands?

From Cellarmasters, the Dutch importer, which also sells online. Perlato del Bosco Vermentino costs €18.95 there, Lodano Rosso €50.95. Prices checked in September 2026.

This article is based on press samples from Cellarmasters, with thanks for sending them. No payment, verdict independent.