The “Elba Paradox”: tourism “drinks up” all the wine, but its future lies outside the Island

Elba wine - whose quality increased a lot during the years - is living in the “golden cage” of touristic consumption, which, paradoxically, makes its future uncertain. For this reason, the synergy activated between hotel owners and wine producers aims to make labels from Elba known also outside the island, to emphasize, vice-versa, its propulsive, and cultural strength, and as wine tourism attractor, as the voices of many vignerons explain, surrounded by the unique beauty of vineyards “diving” into the sea of Tuscan Archipelago.
But, Elba Island is not only crystalline sea, and paths immersed in nature: “our Island offers a complete cultural experience which passes also through wine, cuisine, and very high quality local agricultural products,which deserve to be known all over the world”, underlines Massimo De Ferrari, who recently presented an initiative by Consorzio Servizi Albergatori Isola d’Elba - Consortium Hotel Owner Services of Elba, of which he is president, and of his partners (Blu Navy, historical company of navigation of Elba Island, and Small Fly Airlines, airline company which connects the island to some Italian, European, and Extraeuropean airports), which focuses exactly on Elba wine.
The history of wine viticulture of Elba Island - the greatest of Tuscan Archipelago (224 kmq), third for its dimensions after Sicily and Sardinia - is similar to that of all small islands. During the most thriving period, around years 1880-1888, vineyard hectares were 5,000 for a production of almost 150,000 wine hectoliters. Historical reports explain that, in the following years (1890-1893), phylloxera decimated vineyards provoking the decrease of population because of the increase in poorness, and emigration. Then, production overcame even those peaks, which decreased in the end of the 1950s (according to Alberto Mori, and his “Studi geografici sull’Isola d’Elba” - “Geographic studies about Elba Island”, Pisa, 1960) to few more than 3,000 hectares, corresponding to 14% of total territory. However, until the half of XX century, viticulture remained the main economic activity of the population. In 1982, vineyard surface was 565 hectares (1/4 of agrarian surface used on Elba). According to data by Chamber of Commerce Maremma and Tirreno, in 2018, vine surface for wine production of Doc wine was 74.25 hectares, while that for Docg production was 13.30 hectares. Today - once tourism crisis due to pandemic is overcome, and wine consumption linked to summer presences are recovered - vineyard hectares are about 350, located from sea level up to 450 meters of altitude on the hills (to the West, there is Monte Capanne which overcomes 1,000 meters). The production amounts to about 500,000 bottles - Elba Docg (Aleatico Passito), Elba Doc, Igt Toscana, and Costa Toscana, and table wine - by 15 companies which market the production under the denomination and just as many, or slightly more, that instead supply the grapes.
At the same time, on Elba Island, as elsewhere, the tourism offering - strong of a long-standing success that nonetheless requires ongoing “nurturing”- needs renewal and the introduction of new attractions. And, wine is one of them. Yet Elba’s wine faces a kind of paradox: its consumption is almost entirely concentrated on the Island. While this reflects effective promotion by local restaurateurs and hoteliers, it has also stopped the flow of “exports” to Italy and, mainly, abroad, erasing Elban wine from the memory of wine enthusiasts and consumers who, once, even if rarely due to limited production, could find it in wine shops and/or restaurants. “Tourism success” has dampened producers’ drive to promote their wines internationally, or to participate in trade fairs and events - further hindered by the pandemic- resulting in a kind of “oblivion effect” that has also obscured the significant improvements in wine quality, which now lack external benchmarks. This situation is worsened by the inactivity of the Consortium, which currently exists only in name. To clarify, beyond the well-known Elba Aleatico Passito - a Docg wine since 2011 - the Elba denomination - recognized in 1967, and expanded over the years - includes 8 still wines and 5 raisin wine, made primarily from grape varieties that have best adapted to the Island’s geography over the centuries. The whites are mainly from Procanico (Tuscan Trebbiano), Ansonica, Vermentino, and Moscato, while the reds and rosé wines from Sangiovese. The primary sales channel for Elban wines is horeca (hotels, restaurants, cafés), but a share of production is destined to large-scale retail, under specific guidelines, which, in some cases differ only in labeling, but not in bottle content. According to producers, the production destined to gdo helps absorb surplus production from abundant vintages.
“The rise in quality of Elban wines is due to investments by wineries, the awareness of strong demand for high quality wine on the Island, and the support of hotel and restaurant owners who have embraced the local wine culture”, explains Lorenzo Signorini of Cecilia company, a winery founded in 1990 by his uncle Giuseppe Camerini, a Milanese engineer and artist who adopted Elba as his home. Lorenzo, and his brother Renato, also from Milan, produce 75,000 bottles across 12 labels from four small vineyards (11 hectares) near Marina di Campo, continuing their uncle’s legacy, including some of his intuitions like the amphora-aged Sangiovese “Altro.” They focus on direct sales and on-site hospitality, including cultural events.
“We’ve already achieved our initial goals - states Signorini - now, improvement must come through revitalizing the Elba Wine Consortium, or other forms of association which allow us to attend national and international fairs and events, showcasing the reality of a viticulture that has greatly improved. We need to look beyond the Island again. We’ve become too “Elbanized”, comfortable in the local market, but invisible outside it. Even I, who once brought our wines to Tokyo, New York, and Chicago, have pulled back. Now even hotel owners are asking us to promote Elba abroad because wine is a powerful way to tell the story of a territory, as the experiences of Barolo, Montalcino, and not only, teach us”. However, limited production remains a challenge for the moment: “we produce around half a million bottles of high quality wine - Signorini replies to the request - it’s not much, but it’s up to us to invest in increasing that within the available hectares. Hotel owners, in turn, must accept a temporary reduction in local supply to allow for external promotion, which will ultimately benefit everyone”.
Expanding viticulture on Elba is not an easy task, as explained by Pietro Roveda of Acquabona, who now runs the historic winery alongside Federico Capitani and Riccardo Fioretti, sons of the previous owners, and enologist Federico Ballati. Next to the production of wine - out of 14 vineyard hectares near the sea in Portoferraio and Capoliveri municipalities for 90,000 bottles, and 12 labels - wine tourism development is very important through vineyard walks, tastings, and “golf and wine” experiences nearby Acquabona Golf Club.
“Many of the old vineyards were on steep terraces, now reclaimed by Mediterranean scrub and difficult to restore or farm - illustrates Roveda - recent wildfires revealed ancient dry-stone walls, and the University of Florence has a restoration project, but there’s no one to bring them back to life. The costs are high, the plots small and remote, and wild boars are a constant threat. The local market is profitable, but if we want to expand, we must grow gradually, building loyalty with small growers, leasing or buying more land, if possible”. A far horizon at the moment for Acquabona which is investing in a confident way on the structures dedicated to wine tourism.
The limited growth potential of production imposes to position Elba Doc wines at higher prices to have higher economic margin through the appreciation of reached quality, and, therefore, the growth of their reputation, particularly outside the island. At La Chiusa, a historic estate dating back to 1590 when Cosimo I de’ Medici founded Cosmopoli (now Portoferraio), expansion isn’t on the agenda. Owned by the Bertozzi Corradi family, the estate includes 12 hectares of vineyards (70% white grapes), and produces 100,000 bottles. Located in Magazzini, expaning up to the sea, La Chiusa bucks the trend in its commercial strategy “because - agronomist of Tenuta Lorenzo Arguti - La Chiusa has a significant hospitality component that the owners want to enhance through tastings, events, and overnight stays, maximizing direct sales  rather than expanding into external markets: out of 20,000 bottles distributed entrusted to our supplier to be destined to the “mainland”, some even make their way back to Elba. So, despite the volume, the goal is to create a circular market within Elba Island”. A goal made easier by the estate’s beauty, it’s the oldest on Elba, with two stunning guest buildings: the Borgo, a former farmhouse, and a seafront villa.
Less optimistic about Elba’s wine production growth is Aldo Appiani of Le Sughere di Monte Fico, in Rio Marina. With 7 hectares of vines out of a total of 35, producing 70–80,000 bottles, of which 7,000 are raising wines, the estate also offers hospitality in 9 rooms, 2 apartments, and a pool in a secluded, scenic location. The company focus - with the motto “kitchen eats winery”- reflects its focus on pairing local dishes with its wines, all from native grapes, and local dishes of the tradition. Signature pairings include tuna with tomato, onion, and friggitelli, baccalà sburrita, squid in hunter’s sauce, and schiaccia briaca, are consciously paired to company labels. “There’s little generational renewal in existing wineries, and new ones are unlikely due to the Island’s challenges”, says Appiani, who knows them well. Seen that his vineyards are on terraced hillsides near cork oak forests, where erosion control, lack of mechanization, and high labor needs drive up costs.
“Farms are small - he continues - the countryside has been abandoned and young people aren’t interested. Even where land is available, the restrictions of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park discourage investment: every human intervention must be approved, including new vineyards”. This is a common issue on many islands, where agriculture often clashes with imposed rules by the protection of parks. “About a dozen years ago - continues Appiani, who retains a Lombard touch (before becoming a full-time winemaker he was a head physician in a Milanese hospital) -  I proposed a project to the Rio Marina municipality to engage young people in viticulture, and no one showed up. My winery is oversized, and I offered it to small growers to vinify their grapes: also this project didn’t work either. There’s still no wine shop on the Island dedicated to Elban wines. Unfortunately, as elsewhere, there’s a lack of cohesion: everyone wants to go it alone”.
I am among those who sell to large retailers on Elba and, to a few shops on the mainland and in Florence - continues Appiani about supply channels - chains like Coop and Conad don’t push for low prices, but focus on promoting local products, which allows me to position my wines well, by offering a slightly higher discount to large retailers, who buy in bulk, compared to restaurants”.
Sergio Lauriola, who leads La Faccenda between Portoferraio and Porto Azzurro, at the foot of Capoliveri, the island’s ancient medieval village - a historic farm whose property he acquired in 2001 - and professes to be a neophyte in the industry, agrees on the need to increase Elban wine production. Lauriola, also from Lombardy, ascribes the success of his wines to the good fortune of being in a tourist spot and to the roadside sales point, which is moreover sui generis, very visible and attractive also thanks to its informality, with games even for children. “Elba as a brand certainly has considerable potential”, says Lauriola, who has 14 hectares dedicated mainly to vines and olives and produces 60,000 bottles for ten types of wine, five dry, one reserve and three passiti, “but to get out of the island more sustained numbers are needed and there are few possibilities to increase them: there is not much of a market for grapes and the few on sale, if of quality, are highly sought after. The future is undeniably tied to tourism particularly for the smaller wineries, while the larger ones, which have more strength and convenience in selling outside, have to work a little harder not to remain so tied to the flow of tourism and cope with vintages in which it should shrink. The reality says that having the market at home there is no need to go out except for personal ambition. And I think the absence of promotional activities even on the part of the Consortium mirrors this situation”.
To have long since left Elba’s borders and to have ambitions to continue to do so is Fattoria delle Ripalte, at the southeastern end of Elba Island. Founded in 1896 by Swiss Count Tobler, Elba’s largest all-round farm, it became with successive owners a place to stay for pleasure and hunting. Then in 1977 it was acquired by the Veronese Ederle family, which developed the area’s tourist vocation and in 2002 reintroduced viticulture using the experience of Piermario Meletti Cavallari, founder of the Grattamacco winery, with the intention of relaunching Aleatico. Wine is just one of the offerings, which include hospitality-a resort, farms and villas-sports facilities for numerous sports, gastronomic offerings as well as beaches and the sea. “Technology”, stresses Carlo Ederle, marketing manager, “has broken down many market barriers, and I believe that exporting outside the island is necessary and necessary because it stimulates us producers to make better and better wines and to be more competitive, and it solicits the curiosity of the market attracted by the charm of the Mediterranean islands. As far as we are concerned, we cannot expand on the very difficult farm lands, with very low yields per hectare and high costs: it would be an autogoal. The only possibility to increase production could be to find on Elba Island other lands in somewhat more productive areas”. “About the wine destinations”, elaborates Jacopo Nidini, project manager of the company in organic since 2024, “the intention is to continue to grow the Italian market, which is already developed, and especially the international ones that interest us most (ed. note: now between 10 and 15%). We have the advantage of “being Tuscany,” but we are on an island and this is not always received, so a communication effort is needed. It is no coincidence that our logo and labels, even of Aleatico Passito, do not strictly evoke the territory, but have international references”. Apart from the Aleatico Passito Docg, all Ripalte wines come out as Igt Costa Toscana “because,” Nidini explains, “the Doc requires grapes not at all suited to the southeast area of the island where we are, a very mineral, rocky territory that is very poor in organic material. After a series of studies and even attempts, we arrived at the choice to grow, in addition to Aleatico, Vermentino, Alicante and Carignano”. As many as 10 hectares out of the total 18 are Aleatico - declined as well as passito also as rosé and Italian Method - and production is 60,000 bottles. “We are considering”, he continues, “expanding the vineyard especially on the Monte Calamita side, the side of the High Pastures, to slightly increase the production of whites in line with market demands. As for the cellar, on the other hand, we already have working spaces because from the design it was conceived for higher production”. The winery, completed in 2010-as were the labels-was designed by architect Tobia Scarpa, son of the famous Carlo, with functional criteria such as handling by gravity, to avoid the stress caused by pumps, and modular sectors. Certainly the Consortium's action would be important in bringing Elba wines “out”. “We are few producers, but the divisions are deep”, Ederle explains, “recently several young people have joined the companies who might be able to unblock the situation. “From our side”, adds Nidini, “there is a push for us to work on the revaluation of Aleatico Passito Docg in particular, but there is still no unified reasoning. So let's give time to time”.
The Nesos project of the Arrighi winery, set in the hills behind the bay of Porto Azzurro in the eastern part of Elba, told by the world's media, has given the island's wine a major comeback. Nesos, from Ansonica grapes-dried for 2 days on cannicciato, then submerged for 5 in the sea at a depth of 10 meters and vinified in amphora-is the result of experimentation (only the latest of many with research institutes and universities in the vineyard and cellar) that Antonio Arrighi started in 2018, with the help of Attilio Scienza, one of the world's top viticulture experts, in collaboration with the University of Pisa. All of Antonio Arrighi's activities are distinctive, such as tests about the environmental adaptability of vines and clones, the use of Impruneta amphorae and coccio pesto, to the “transform_actions - artists in the vineyard” project, which uses recycled materials related to viticulture to make works that can be freely enjoyed while walking through the amphitheater of the estate vineyards. “I have always communicated my wines personally on cruise ships, in restaurants and wine clubs: getting known outside is important because limiting sales to Elba is risky in case of a drop in consumption on the island”, says Arrighi, who out of 22 total hectares cultivates 9 hectares under organic vine for 45,000 bottles and 10 labels, “and Nesos, which I did not imagine would trigger all this interest that has brought Elba into the spotlight, has fulfilled this task well. However, even though it has brought a lot of publicity to the island, some people are “gnawing”, there is no compactness among us”.
Putting other important issues on the table is Italo Sapere, the calm and well-trained all-around owner of Sapereta, a winery founded in 1927, just a step away from 100 years old and named after his family. The wine is complemented by a good restaurant-born in 2006 and carried on by Italo's daughter Danae and her husband Sante Vaiti, chef-and an agritourism business that began in the early 1970s and now has 17 apartments. “The current quantity of Elban wine is beginning to be enough for the island's market, which can be easily saturated,” stresses Italo Sapere, who is in charge of the 15 hectares under organic vines for a production that fluctuates between 50 and 70,000 bottles.At the same time, there is not enough to make it known outside, but one can choose where to sell it. To increase production there is the difficulty of buying grapes, and the impossibility of finding them organic as we would need them, compounded by the quantitative fluctuation between vintages. In addition, there is another insurmountable difficulty: we are dealing with a strong competitor, tourism, which while on the one hand is our key “consumer”. on the other hand imposes land prices that often have nothing to do with an agricultural market. I believe that selling outside the Island is also an opportunity to have higher margins than we get from local catering, which, moreover, charges the price enormously. We could have a good potential because our wines have nothing to envy to the Tuscan and national wines with which we often compare ourselves, especially with the whites. We hoped that the generational change in some wineries would bring along with the entrepreneurial spirit a push to make the consortium work. The issue is that everyone sells quite well. If we had stock we would probably activate the Consortium. The fact remains that we all arrive at the end of the season with empty cellars. A fortune that cancels the incentive to do promotion”.
Yet given the small number of wineries-twenty in total: fifteen or so structured to which the remaining smaller ones, rely for certain stages of production-it would be really easy to get around a table to chart the future of Elba wine.