ibbona is a small town in Tuscany, near Livorno that has been inhabited since the Stone Age. It boasts many important archaeological sites, including the Etruscan tomb of Tholos from the 6th century BC. During the Middle Ages, Bibbona contained an important castles in Tuscany’s coastal region, the Merema, and it was therefore disputed teritory among the cities of Pisa, Volterra and Florence.
Around the year 1000 most of its lands were given to the Della Gherardesca counts, who were alredy owners of large tracts of land in Tuscany. Soon thereafter, Bibbona became a free commune under the Republic of Pisa which it remained until 1406, when it was taken over by the city of Florence.
Bibbona flourished until 1549, when its communal lands were passed on to Cosimo de’ Medici the first, and the farmers had to begin paying rent for their land, called terratico from terra or land in Italian.
In 2006, Terratico became the DOC appellation given to the wines produced in the territories of Bibbona, Cecina, Collesalvetti and Rossignano. The appellation covers wines obtained from native grape varieties, like Sangiovese or Vermentino, as well as those obtained from international varieties, like Merlot, Cabernet and Chardonnay, which have been experimented with in the Alta Maremma region for over a hundred years now and have led to the current "Super Tuscan" phenomenon.
