Villa Russiz

Villa Russiz has a centuries-old history, being born from the love between Elvine Ritter von Zahony and Karl Theodor Leopold Anton de La Tour en Voivre and from their own passions: philanthropy and wine. In February 1868 the Gorizia’s noblewoman marries the count of the ancient noble French family, bringing bring Villa Russiz as her dowry, in the municipality of Capriva, Friuli. Theodor was an expert agronomist and immediately sensed the valuable potential of the area for a wine production of high quality. Placed in fact among the hills of Friuli, the vineyards enjoy a particular soil, the “ponca”, and an optimal microclimate, thanks to the meeting between the cold winds coming from the Julian Alps from one side and the temperate breezes from the Mar Adriaco from the other side. Then, the count decided to apply culture techniques learned in France to the Collio area, as well as to import for the first time, hidden in the beautiful bouquets of flowers gifted to his wife, the cuttings of French varieties. This magnificent intuition is the origin of the long success of French vines in the northern and eastern Italy, a success that was great also in the Russian Empire, where the wine of Villa Russiz becomes the first of the Hermitage tsar. Parallel to the wine passion of her husband, Elvine devoted her life to a philanthropic project, the hospitality and help of poor children. After the death of the count, the management of Villa Russiz passes to their nephew Rudolf von Gall, having being interrupted in 1915 due to the outbreak of the Great War: while Rudolf was exiled in Sardinia, the Villa became a military base. Today the wine production is back to being one of the cornerstones of the Collio wines maintaining the characteristics of elegance, finesse, minerality and extreme pleasure dictated by Theodor, allocating the proceeds to the Family House for child protection, a foundation that dates back to Elvine life.