Sustainably Delicious: Organic Wines by Terra Sávia

When I arrived at Terra Sávia Winery in Hopland at 9:00 on a Monday morning, things were already bustling. Pallets of wine and olive oil were moved past the olive mill, through the tasting bar, under the art gallery, and into an adjacent storage area. I noticed a snappy looking vintage Porsche parked inside while a large grandfather clock ticked nearby. As their website states, “There is a lot going on under this roof.” Current owners Jurg Fischer and his wife Yvonne Hall have a great love for everything living including people, animals, and plants, a love that is evident through their interest in organic products, animal sanctuaries, native plants, and local art.

As a reflection of their varied interests, Terra Sávia Winery is just one aspect of a multifaceted operation that includes an active olive oil mill, an animal sanctuary, a native plant nursery, and an art gallery. Their 65 acres are located in the Sanel Valley of Hopland in Mendocino County. The winemaking operation includes two distinct labels: Terra Sávia and Ettore, and all the wines are organic, hand-harvested, and estate grown.

Resident winemaker Sofia Rivier is also the vineyard manager, and she explained how she has been privileged to work side-by-side with the two veteran winemakers who established these labels.

Sofia chatted with me warmly as we headed for the Ettore House further back on the property for a tasting. As we drove, she filled me in on the recent history of the property, which was established by Jim Milone, a winemaker and previous owner of the property with four generations of family history in the area. Jim stayed on for a transition period with Sofia, and she has maintained his “Mendocino style” for the Terra Sávia label wines, incorporating a bold structure, sharp tannins, big mouth feel, and strong aging potential.

Wine has always been a big part of Sofia’s life. Her grandparents emigrated to Argentina from Switzerland to establish vineyards and a winery, one her father continues today. She decided to pursue a winemaking career in 2006, ultimately earning a degree in Agricultural Engineering in Argentina before moving to Switzerland. There she continued her education by adding a B.S. in Viticulture and Enology, followed by a Master of Life Sciences in Enology and Viticulture degree, which she completed in 2017. During her education, she used internships to balance out her academics with “boots on the ground” experience.

Sofia came to Terra Sávia through her acquaintance with Ettore Biraghi, an Italian man she met in Switzerland. Ettore was looking for someone to help with the new wines he was planning to make in California with Jurg and Yvonne. His Ettore wines married old world Italian winemaking to new technology, resulting in lighter, higher in acid, and very fruit-forward wines. Ettore Chardonnay Pure, Ettore Chardonnay Reserve, Ettore Red, and Ettore Cabernet Signature are all organic wines, but Ettore Chardonnay Zero and Ettore Merlot Zero go one step further by allowing only naturally occurring sulfites. A method called “Purovino” controls the hyperoxygenation of grapes, and a CIP (Clean In Place) process on all the equipment with ozone-enriched water eliminates the need for any additional sulfites. For those wishing to avoid sulphites, the “zero” wines are a great pick. Sofia manages the developing Ettore wines day to day, with Ettore visiting from Europe every two months for a check-in.

The Ettore wine catalog states, “One hundred miles north of San Francisco in the timeless California frontier of Mendocino, wine finds a nuanced new expression seen nowhere else in the Golden State. In a vast expanse of wilderness that has for centuries captured the imagination of California’s farmers, environmentalists, winemakers, and mavericks alike, terroir is the key to crafting wines of character and distinction and here. Ettore Biraghi brings its old world Italian wine heritage to the new world in the pursuit of exceptional organic wines.”

Sofia’s grandfather was Swiss, and he originally considered settling in California instead of Argentina when he left Switzerland with his family, so her new life in America feels a little like fulfilling a family dream. She oversees both of the developing wines as well as the grapes produced by the estate vineyards.

Her work comes with a lot of responsibility, but she relishes the challenge. As a modern winemaker, Sofia takes advantage of new technology, utilizing computer analysis to gather and chart data. Yet she relies on the people who walk through the vineyards everyday for their insights and advice because, as she puts it, they “really know the grapes.”

Making wine is no easy pursuit. Making organic wines is even more of a challenge. Yet in addition to making two distinct lines of organic wines, Terra Sávia produces their own olive oil, presses olives for other oil producers, elevates local artists with their tasting room art gallery, pursues sustainability with a variety of measures, and maintains both a native plant nursery and an animal sanctuary. All of these ongoing ventures bring to mind a line from the Broadway show ‘Hamilton’ when Alexander Hamilton declares, “Immigrants—they get the job done!”

Terra Sávia is a business owned, created, and managed almost entirely by immigrants. Jurg is from Switzerland, Yvonne from the Dominican Republic, Sofia from Argentina, and Ettore from Italy. Carlos, the olive oil manager, and Fernando, the “reader of plants,” are both from Mexico, as are many of the rest of the staff. Together they’ve created a company that is multifaceted and dynamic, providing a multitude of benefits for the living people, plants, and creatures involved in and impacted by their work. Which is exactly what Yvonne and Jurg had in mind when they created Terra Sávia in the first place.

(This article first appeared in the Summer 2025 issue of Word of Mouth Magazine. WordOfMouthMendo.com.)