That of the Villa Russiz farm is a story of great intuition, generosity, passion, commitment, feeling and tradition. In 1869, the French Count Théodore de La Tour saw in the sunny hills of the Collio an ideal place to live with his Austrian wife, Elvine Ritter. As a result, he had the intuition to give a new home to his passion for cultivating vines and for modern oenological techniques that, in France, were already significantly developed at the time.
Théodore de La Tour was the first to understand the essence that made Collio wines great worldwide. Here, the extraordinary microclimate can offer the maximum benefits in the encounter between the cool winds of the Julian Alps and the sea breezes of the nearby Adriatic, and both softened in the perfectly exposed hills of Capriva del Friuli.
Therefore, this gave rise to what is still today the fundamental basis of Villa Russiz: new varieties best suited to the territory and capable of developing quality at the highest levels, a marvellous cellar with large vaults that is entirely underground, and a passion and constant commitment to attention to detail from the vineyard, to the wine factory, to the bottle.
Villa Russiz was and still is a symbol of generosity and sentiment. The sentiment of Elvine Ritter who, after the death of her husband in 1894, continued the count's commitment until she was overwhelmed by the events of the First World War and decided to leave the estate. Later, the generosity of the noblewoman Adele Cerruti took the form of vital help and support for children, which continues to this day, with the configuration of Villa Russiz into a non-profit organisation. The meticulous passion for viticulture is more alive today than ever at Villa Russiz, in the 94 hectares that make up the estate, 30 of which are given over to vineyards, with particular attention to keeping the number of vines per hectare between 4,500 and 7,000, thus guaranteeing grapes of great concentration. The wines of Villa Russiz are all part of the Collio DOCG, as are the three crus: Sauvignon de La Tour, Graf de La Tour and Grafin de La Tour. These three crus are the company's flagship for a modern quest for maximum quality, a coherent path of development and for creating great wines of international standing.