Giuseppe Luciano Aieta, owner with his husband Davide Zoppi of the Bonassola winery, reports an assault suffered among the vine rows. The couple speaks of a climate of pressure and intimidation that has lasted for some time. This very year the winery was awarded Best Italian Winery 2025 by Winemag.
A Ligurian wine producer reports an assault suffered in the vineyard. Beatings, threats and an attempted sexual assault shake Bonassola, in the Levante. The open letter signed by Giuseppe Luciano Aieta and his husband Davide Zoppi, owners of the renowned Cà du Ferrà winery, calls on the community to react to a climate of intimidation that has become unbearable for the couple, married since 2016.
THE ASSAULT IN THE VINEYARD
The heartfelt lines shared on social media recount the details of the assault suffered by Aieta while working in the vineyard. Beatings, threats with a knife. Then immobilization and an attempted sexual assault. The couple has already filed a report with the Authorities, “who are already working to ascertain the facts and identify those responsible,” the document states.
The owners of Cà du Ferrà report a tense context that has persisted for over a year and a half, marked by pressure, resentment and acts of persecution. “This climate has provided fertile ground for a cowardly and intolerable act,” state Aieta and Zoppi. Emphasizing that they have always lived their marriage “in the open, openly and with heads held high.”
CÀ DU FERRÀ, MORE THAN A WINERY
Cà du Ferrà, in Bonassola (La Spezia), is much more than a simple winery: it is an example in the national wine scene. The Winemag Top 100 Guide awarded Cà du Ferrà the title of Best Italian Winery 2025. Recognition reinforced by the award for Best Italian Sweet Wine 2025, given to Ruzzese 2020 “Diciassettemaggio” with a score of 97/100.
The winery was born from a shared story. Davide, a law graduate, and Giuseppe, an engineer with a master’s in Finance, chose to move from Milan to Bonassola. Here they revolutionized the business started by Davide’s parents, building the current winery in 2017 and initiating a fruitful collaboration with winemaker Graziana Grassini.
Despite the violence suffered, the couple reaffirms their determination to continue their winemaking journey and their love, as well as protecting the territory. “Those who choose cowardice… do not care for this Community,” write Aieta and Zoppi in the document. Inviting the community to stand on the side of respect, justice and freedom.
