The La Chiusa company overlooks the bay of Portoferraio and owes its name to the wall that surrounds and encloses the 20 hectares property. Its origins date back to the eighteenth century, a period when the wall and the main premise with the winery and the lord’s chapel were built. The villa with the double staircase, instead, is of a later period. La Chiusa also hosted Napoleone Bonaparte on two occasions: the first time shortly after his arrival on the island while he was still waiting to be received with due honors in Portoferraio and then after a hunt on Mount Fabbrello. In 1815 the Plenipotentiary Ministers of the Holy Alliance, instructed to return to the Lorraine the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, stayed there.
Over the course of three centuries succeeded in the management of the company: the Senno family, which founded it in the eighteenth century, devoting it from the beginning to the winemaking activity, and the Foresi family that, purchasing it in the middle of the nineteenth century, over the course of 150 years brought it to reach the highest levels in terms of quality and prestige. Last heir of the family, Mrs. Giuliana has made herself a valid interpreter of such a great passion and dedication of her ancestors, bringing a more and more high quality products to the name of La Chiusa.
Since 2003 the property has undergone a further evolution passing from the hands of Giuliana to those of another Giuliana, Ms. Bertozzi Corradi who, with her family, producer of cartoons for cinema and television, has brought to the company an added value that surely will make her achieve, in the coming years, more and more high goals. Under the new management, restoration works which involved the wine cellar, the villa and all apartments have been carried out. Important novelties have also affected the wine industry, increasing the planted area, passed from the original 8 hectares to 13.5; in effect, new plants and Aleatico and Ansonica, the two local wines of higher quality, were added, and research of new varieties to join the typical ones continues. The training system is spurred cordon, with short pruning for better quality at the expense of an easier quantity. For the same reason, in spring, bunches are thinned out, if they are too many, and during the harvest grapes are selected. The vines are the traditional ones of the island of Elba: the white grapes of Procanico, a variety of Tuscan Trebbiano, Sauvignon Blanc and Ansonica; the red grapes of Sangiovese, a small–berry variety of Tuscan Sangiovese, Merlot and Aleatico. A special mention must be reserved right to two raisin wines: Aleatico and Ansonica. The first is an aromatic variety with early maturation withered on proper racks and pressed softly after about 15 days, certainly the most famous and sought after wine of Elba; the second is a wine of ancient eastern origins that have come down to us through Sicily, the island of Giglio and the Argentario coast. Still today, you can find it only in these locations. The range of wines produced, all DOC, includes Elba White, Elba Red, Elba Rosé, Aleatico and Ansonica. Another red wine is Grecale IGT, made from Merlot and Sangioveto grapes; very few bottles of single–variety Grappa of Aleatico and singl–variety Brandy of Sangiovese are produced.
Showpiece of the company is also the extra virgin olive oil that, for its high quality, with an acidity less than 0.3%, has obtained a few years ago the IGP (Protected Geographical Indication). The cultivar of the business are typical of Tuscany: Pendolino, Moraiolo, Leccino and Frantoiano. The olive trees are pruned and fertilized by hand, as happens with the collection, which on Elba is made around the end of October. For a complete list of our products, please consult the "Prodotti" category.
