Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi was founded and is owned by two winemakers, Lucas Foppa Alves and Ricardo Ambrosi with their first vintage produced in Brazil in 2017. Tenuta in Italian refers to estate; this part of Brazil was settled by many Italians whose relatives still live in the region. Both men met in 2012 while students at Instituto Federal de Bento Gonçalves, Brazil’s first oenology college; the campus doubles as a high school and also offers a teaching winery. They are from the small city of Garibaldi in the state of Rio Grande do Sula in Brazil, a part of the country known for its sparkling (espumante) wine production. Garibaldi is also home to one of the planet’s six Chandon properties; this Chandon was founded in 1973. And a winery with California roots, Almaden also setup operations in Brazil (now part of the Miolo Group).
Neither of Lucas nor Ricardo’s families were in the wine business; both men discovered their love of wine on their own. Lucas has worked at a number of Brazilian wineries including at Cave de Pedra, Pizzato, CHANDON Brazil, Terraço and Vinícola Maximo Boschi. He also worked a harvest in 2015 in southern Spain. And Ricardo has made wine in Brazil at Cave de Pedra (where he and Lucas worked simultaneously in their tasting room), Salton (Brazil’s largest winery), Aurora and Embrapa Grape and Wine Research.
Their first wine was made by hand in Ricardo’s garage in early 2017 and was Marselan. For reference, there are only a few Marselan plantings in Napa Valley, the Resilience block at Helena View Johnston in Calistoga, a row or two at Spottswoode and a small block off of Kreuse Canyon Road in Coombsville owned by Caldwell Vineyards. Lucas and Ricardo transported four small bins of this variety in their Ford Fiesta to his garage. Not having much in the way of equipment, much less any cooling systems – they filled plastic milk cartons with water and then froze them. They inserted these into their fermentation vessels during certain times to keep the temperature from becoming too warm.
It is always helpful when a business catches a ‘break’ or even good timing in regard to getting exposure. Their first break was when they had dinner with former wine writer, Brazilian Douglas Chamon who owns the winery, Chamon Garbin Vinhos Clássicos in Brazil. He tried their Marselan and then one of only 300 bottles they had produced of Cabernet Sauvignon. He was impressed with both wines and said something like, “this is impressive, you guys are only 22 years old”. Lucas quickly corrected him; they were both only 21 at the time. Chamon suggested he would see if he could help sell these very limited production wines. Their first sales came through his WhatsApp account. Chamon posted a photo of one of their bottles to his friends and within 2 hours they had sold out of all their inventory.
Winery at Instituto Federal de Bento Gonçalves
Instituto Federal de Bento Gonçalves
This led them to locating their operations into a historic house dating from the early 1900s in the Borghetto District of Garibaldi/RS, Vale dos Vinhedos region. Incidentally their winery is only a 5-minute drive to Chandon do Brasil. Part of their business is now offering custom crush services; they have more than 20 clients producing over 600,000 bottles of wine a year. As of the latest update to this review, Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi produces around 60,000 bottles per year (5,000 cases). The partners do not yet own vineyards and are primarily sourcing grapes from Serra Gaúcha and Serra do Sudeste/RS. In 2024, the partners expanded production operations to a building across from their original space.
In 2017 through a mutual friend, and with an interest in gaining more international winemaking experience, Lucas and Ricardo traveled to Napa Valley and worked as interns for one harvest at Rombauer Winery for the wineries’ cellar master Alberto Pena. They are both extremely grateful for the time they spent working at Rombauer and consider this winery a ‘sacred place’ where they learned more about how Napa Valley marketed itself, how its wines were sold and established relationships with others working in the valley. In addition, they paid close attention to Napa Valley’s wine tourism, borrowing ideas for when they opened their own winery in Brazil.
Lucas in particular remembers one night in October 2017 when he was fast asleep in the Rombauer ‘intern house’, and as he puts it, was “dreaming in Portuguese” when he was jolted awake by Alberto yelling in English. A major fire had started north of the winery in Calistoga (the Tubbs Fire) and he and Ricardo and other interns had to quickly evacuate. The Rombauer property was not affected then, but in 2020 the Glass Fire burned all around and through the property with firefighters doing an incredible job preventing the fire from burning the winery and hospitality spaces. Lucas and Ricardo visited Rombauer post Glass Fire and observed and were shocked by the significant damage to the woodlands on the property.
While back in Brazil both men discussed how cool it would be to make wine in Napa Valley. Each was affected by the memories of the fires and realized how short and fragile life can be. The time to be opportunistic was while both men were still in their early 20s.
So, they called up Alberto and shared their thoughts; he saw how hard they had worked at Rombauer and wanted to help support their dreams, so he offered his help. Alberto spoke of having a gut feeling that something good would result from working with both Lucas and Ricardo. Another individual who played an important role in the development of their company is Carlos Lamego. He is currently Vice President of Prudential Life Brazil and helped introduce this company to the Brazilian market. He also loves wine and is a collector of international wines. He purchased a significant amount of their wines and shipped them to his house where he then sold them to his friends and acquaintances, hand delivering cases to their homes or businesses.
And it was through Carlo’s network that they were introduced to Miguel Cara (Embraer Group). Lucas recalls Miguel was potentially interested in becoming a partner in Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi during one of their early discussions. Two minutes after their conversation, Miguel called them back and suggested he become part of their Napa Valley operations.
Their Napa Valley winemaking business is a partnership between Lucas, Ricardo, Alberto and Miguel. This exciting brand is fueled by both Lucas and Ricardo’s optimism, energy, enthusiasm for winemaking and willingness to take risks. However, the partnership capitalizes on all of their individualistic strengths; Lucas and Ricardo are in Napa Valley at least 2-3 times per year and help oversee the winemaking and outreach for the brand, Alberto lives here and helps organize vineyard sources and Miguel oversees their legal and licensing needs. When they formed this U.S. partnership on May 19, 2021, they became the first Brazilian based physical winery to make wines in the U.S.
And Alberto grows a small an extremely rare for Napa Valley block of Dolcetto (an Italian red variety) on the slopes of Diamond Mountain. He used to sell the grapes to Rudy Von Strasser (formerly of Von Strasser Winery). It is possible that a very small production Dolcetto wine would be bottled under their American Collection label in the future.
Still in their formative years, they are building a legacy while simultaneously preserving and showcasing the terroir from their part of Brazil. Lucas uses his knowledge and passion for Napa Valley from his time working there as a platform to showcase and familiarize people with Brazilian wines. To Lucas and Riccardo, wine is focused on connection – with people and food; these are all food friendly bottlings with a balanced acidity. And their business thinks globally; as Lucas told us, “if you do not think globally, you will have an expiration date”.
Select Wines
Napa Valley
Their first ever Napa Valley grown and produced bottling was a Syrah from a vineyard on Vichy Ave in Coombsville in 2021. Conveniently, Alberto’s cousin is the vineyard manager for this particular property. The 2021 Foppa & Ambrosi American Collection Coombsville Syrah (100% varietal) is deep ruby in color and nearly opaque with an amaranthine rim. With an intriguing spice component on the bouquet, one could possibly pick this out of a blind tasting of other Napa Valley Syrah bottlings. It offers aromas of clove, light nutmeg, dried herbs, dark chocolate and a floral component including violets and sage. The palate offers flavors of blackberry, boysenberry and a blue fruited layer including of blueberry. This wine’s texture is soft, featuring ripe, resolved and rounded tannins. It lingers with notes of red plum, dried herbs and a light lasting dryness. One would not be incorrect in rereferring to this wine’s acidity as bright and lively, especially noticeable on the finish. This wine would be a good candidate to pair with a Brazilian churrasco and good friends.
The front label mentions that this wine was, “Made by young Brazilian winemakers”. Lucas told us half-jokingly that they put this line on the bottle in hopes of getting recognized for their efforts by Forbes Under 30. This wine is in select retail spaces in Brazil including restaurants which normally carry 100% Brazilian grown and crafted wines. And this is their top selling wine in their ecommerce platform.
In 2022 they produced their second Napa Valley bottling, a Cabernet Sauvignon also from the same Syrah vineyard located on Vichy Lane.
Brazil
Whites/Sparkling/Rose
The 2021 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Albariño. This wine was fermented cold and then aged in stainless steel tanks with oak stave inserts for 6 months using both French (80%) and American (20%) oak. This wine is pale yellow in the glass; the bouquet is immediately engaging and offers a honeyed note, beeswax, some floral influences, apricot, yellow peach, pineapple and deeper in the aromatics a note of vanilla. As this wine evolves it shows a scent of green apple. The palate reveals flavors of honeydew melon, a subtle citrus note, green apple, pear and a light lingering sweetness almost like tarragon. Its texture is noteworthy; it is creamy and almost saline in its feel which complements the mouthwatering acidity very nicely. Lucas and Ricardo are extremely careful when harvesting this variety, seeking precise maturation which allows for desired acidity when the grapes are brought into the cellar. Brazilian wines are often associated with being sparkling or made from Merlot; this wine is bottled under the Brazilian Collection, a series of wines which explores uncommon varieties growing in Brazil.
The 2022 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Rosé Blend is 90% Merlot and 10% Moscato Giallo. During winemaking they bleed off up to 30% of the Merlot and then blend it to the Muscato Giallo. This wine sees no oak and there are no color corrections made. It is a light pink/copper color. The aromatics are wide open and very pretty, offering notes of rose petal, white peach, jasmine, pink bubblegum, lychee, raspberry and a passion fruit/maracuya note. Its texture is creamy and rounded complemented by intense flavors including lime, raspberry and other citrus notes. Lucas suggested this wine will pair very well with shrimp. We could see drinking it with giant freshwater Thai prawns and an accompanying spicy nam prik sauce.
The Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Viticcio Brut Bianco is a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Italic Riesling. This wine spent 6 months in contact with yeast. It is straw color in the glass and smells both fresh and simultaneously fruity. It offers aromas of red apple, pear, a light yeast note, floral influences and some mineralities. The texture is lightly creamy and crisp; this wine expresses flavors of yellow apple, melon and kiwi with a hint of lingering lemon zest. Lucas calls this their, “happy sparkling bottling”. This wine was made using the Charmat method.
The Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Viticciio Brut Rose is 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. 11.5% alcohol. This wine is pale copper in color; the bouquet offers aromas of raspberry, rose petals and hibiscus. On the palate, the flavors are primarily red-berry fruited and delicate. These include notes of strawberry, raspberry, maracuja along with ruby grapefruit. Invigorating across the palate, the brightness of its lively and balanced but not bracing acidity immediately invites another sip. Pair with light bites such as cheese and focaccia and a tropical beach. And this bottling was awarded 90 points by JamesSuckling.com. Created by the Martinotti method (and listed as such on the label) in homage of the creator of the Charmot method and to avoid preconceptions about wines made using Charmat.
The Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Alvarinho is a vintage blend of 2022 and 2023 with grapes sourced from Serra Gaúcha (Gaucho highlands). This wine was aged for 8 months in used French oak barrels. It is medium gold in color; on the bouquet there are aromas of honeysuckle, pineapple, honeydew melon, a hint of vanilla with some stone fruit notes including of apricot, yellow peaches and nectarines. And some tropical influences of papaya. The palate reveals flavors of honeydew melon, green apple, pineapple guava, apricot, yellow nectarines and white peach. Its mouth feel is slightly fleshy with a rounded textural character. The acidity is balanced. This variety inherently showcases a minerality regardless of site. They created this wine to sell internationally and it is sold in parts of Europe through an Italian distributor based in Luxembourg.
The Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi White Blend is a vintage blend from 2022, 2023 and 2024 of Chardonnay (barrel fermented, inspired by Rombauer’s Family Ranch Chardonnay), Ugni Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc – these other two varieties never saw any oak. Lucas calls this, “A white wine with red soul”. It is medium gold in color; one can pick up the oak immediately on the bouquet but it doesn’t dominate. Other aromas include popcorn butter, pineapple and orchard fruits. The palate sports flavors of apricot, peach, passion fruit, mango, pineapple and pineapple guava. The fleshy and rounded texture is complemented nicely by the balanced acidity. A light herbal influence similar to dried anise seeds or tarragon on the finish balances out the richness of the Chardonnay. The Sauvignon Blanc contributes freshness. Pair with grilled halibut.
Reds
The 2022 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Cabernet Franc was sourced from multiple vineyards including from Quarai, Campanha Gaucha and Pinheiro Machado, Serra do Sudeste, all cooler climate locations. It was aged for 12 months in French and American oak barrels and is 100% varietal. It is deep garnet in color with a purplish rim in the glass; the diverse and layered bouquet is brooding, dark and savory and shows aromas of pink peppercorn, dried earth, dark pepper, a light red chili spice, old leather – like a well-worn baseball mitt being used on a hot day, dried herbs and floral notes including violets and lavender. A light toasted oak presence comes forward at the wine evolves in the glass. Its savory characteristics are mirrored on the palate showcasing bright red fruits, crushed pepper, dried herbs, red plum and currant. Superbly balanced, the tannins are cushiony, and soft with some give to their texture. Tannins are never added to any of the Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi wines. The finish is energetic and seamless between acid, texture and fruit. This wine was aged for 6 months with French and American oak cubes and oak staves and is in a Burgundian bottle. As Lucas noted, “this Bordeaux variety in a Burgundian bottle is a soft way to break the rules”. And this wine is primarily distributed in Europe; 5200 bottles were produced with each bottled numbered.
Wines bottled under Cultura are 100% varietal and are sometimes non-vintage or sourced from a variety of vineyards. The label is always an image of something relating to the country that inspired them to make a particular wine. For example, the label on their Cultura Tannat is of a gaucho in reference to Uruguay. The non-vintage Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Tannat is a blend of 70% grapes from 2022 and 30% from 2021. It is 100% varietal. The focus of bouquet is on the freshness of the fruit aromatics, but it also offers scents of violets, sage and thyme. We noted the aromas are bright and savory, this wine smells fresh. The liveliness of the bouquet continues onto the palate with bright, red-fruited flavors. This wine’s texture is one of its hallmark characteristics with densely felt tannins but with a rounded structure. A light dryness and a note of tobacco leaf lingers on the finish.
The 2022 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Pinot Noir was aged for 9 months using French and American oak staves. The grapes are from Campos de Cima da Serra. Translates into English as the fields of the highlands/plateau. This wine is medium ruby; on the bouquet there is a union of both fruit and baking spices. These scents include cardamom, clove and cinnamon stick with notes of dried herbs including a hint of basil, raspberry and red plum. This is a diverse bouquet which reveals additional layers as the wine evolves in the glass. The mouth feel is creamy and is accompanied by flavors of raspberry, currant and dark plum. It also has a savory sensibility featuring darker spicy notes of white and dark peppercorn and smoked sage, especially showing on the finish. This wine is aged using a limited number of oak staves; using staves give them exact control of how much oak surface area is used in the wine. This was a particularly warm year; they wanted to extract more from the grapes so maceration was extended longer than normal.
The 2019 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Teroldego, Vista dos Platanos was aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, a combination of first and second fill 500 liter barrels. 13.5% alcohol. This wine is deep ruby in color; the bouquet is immediately open knitted with both fruit and herbs showing. These scents include dried culinary sage, lavender, and rosemary, pink peppercorn, with its fruit contributions of cherry, blackberry with a hint of chocolate. Very well layered. Savory across the palate, it offers flavors of crushed dark pepper, dried herbs, red plums, currant and cranberry. Fresh, bright and youthful 5 years post vintage at the time of our tasting. The tannins are lightly grainy and parallels the fruit for some time on the finish with a lingering note of dried tobacco spice. Comparison to 2020 more similar to Tannat than a Bordeaux blend aged. Lucas describes the acidity has having a saline quality.
The 2022 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi GOAT The Second red blend was aged for 18 months in oak barrels of which 22% was in American oak, 65% in French oak and 1% once used and 13% in tank. This wine is deep ruby in color; savory, earthy and moody, the bouquet offers aromas of sage, damp earth, forest floor, a light shishito pepper spice, tobacco spice and a note of toasted oak. Fresh and lively across the palate, with a red fruited profile of plums, cherry and currant with assorted dried herbs. Savory. Mouth watering .More ‘new world’ in style. But built to be drinkable in its youth with all the characteristics to be age worthy. The tannins are ripe, resolved and rounded and showcase a light to moderate persistent grip and a lasting drying character which broadly coats the palate. This wine is bottled with property certificate with invite to come to the winery where the blend is revealed. The first vintage of the GOAT was 2020; they do not produce this wine every year, only produced during exceptionally special vintages.
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Tenuta Foppi & Ambrosi partnered with Bracco Bosca Winery in Uruguay to source grapes from their vineyard, make the wine on site and bottle wines under Tenuta Foppi & Ambrosi. Winemaker Fabiana Bracco in conjunction with Riccardo produce these wines and both wineries will jointly market and sell the bottles.
For those visiting this part of Brazil, Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi opened a tasting room in 2021 located about a 10-15 minute drive from Garibaldi. The space is located inside a building dating from over 100 years; its previous uses included a cheese shop and an Italian grocery. Lucas and Ricardo began restoring the space starting in December 2020. Visitors are hosted by walk-in or by appointment with tastings offering light bites including a delicious focaccia paired with locally produced olive oil (PURO), an assortment of cheeses and charcuterie. A small boutique sells their wines with other partner products including olive oil.
For more information and to purchase wine, visit: www.tenutafa.com.br
Tenuta Foppi & Ambrosi
Garibaldi
Dolcetto, Diamond Mountain
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