Sergio Mottura (Lazio)
The Mottura Estate occupies 130 hectares in an area rich in natural resources, bordered to the west by the gentle hills and clay canyons of Civitella d’Agliano, and to the east by the Tiber valley stretching into Umbria.
Wine has been made here for centuries: a document dating from 1292 in the Orvieto city archives names these hills as being among the very best for the production of Orvieto wine. Close to both Rome and Florence, but untouched by any large-scale urbanization, it is an area that still possesses an unsullied and breathtaking natural beauty, dotted with woods, lakes and streams.
The estate has belonged to the Mottura family since 1933 and the family has always sought to preserve and conserve its rich natural heritage. At the beginning of the 1960s the estate underwent a dramatic modernization with the move from the old sharecropping system to direct management. Given that vines have always prospered in the volcanic soil on these gently sloping hills, it was decided that the area’s tradition of viticulture offered the key to making optimum use of all that the land has to offer.
At the time the age-old vines were still grown using a system inherited from the Etruscans: they hung high above the ground, “married” to the trees that supported them. Sergio Mottura replaced this ancient system with specialized modern vineyards which now cover 36 hectares, and every year new vines are planted, ensuring a continuously high level of quality.
The choice of grape varieties has focused on the indigenous grapes that have always been grown here, clones of which have been selected on the basis of their quality and their inherited resistance to disease, particularly important because our wine is 100% organic.
Wine has been made here for centuries: a document dating from 1292 in the Orvieto city archives names these hills as being among the very best for the production of Orvieto wine. Close to both Rome and Florence, but untouched by any large-scale urbanization, it is an area that still possesses an unsullied and breathtaking natural beauty, dotted with woods, lakes and streams.
The estate has belonged to the Mottura family since 1933 and the family has always sought to preserve and conserve its rich natural heritage. At the beginning of the 1960s the estate underwent a dramatic modernization with the move from the old sharecropping system to direct management. Given that vines have always prospered in the volcanic soil on these gently sloping hills, it was decided that the area’s tradition of viticulture offered the key to making optimum use of all that the land has to offer.
At the time the age-old vines were still grown using a system inherited from the Etruscans: they hung high above the ground, “married” to the trees that supported them. Sergio Mottura replaced this ancient system with specialized modern vineyards which now cover 36 hectares, and every year new vines are planted, ensuring a continuously high level of quality.
The choice of grape varieties has focused on the indigenous grapes that have always been grown here, clones of which have been selected on the basis of their quality and their inherited resistance to disease, particularly important because our wine is 100% organic.
ORGANIC WINEMAKING
We farm our estate with the greatest possible respect and care for the environment and pride ourselves on making responsible use of natural resourses. We have chosen the porcupine as our logo precisely because this shy picky animal is only to be found on healthy unpolluted land, and its presence on the Mottura estate is a source of great pride. Our vineyards are also home to ‘friendly’ insects such as the ladybird – unmistakable sign of a healthy ecosystem. |
Sergio Mottura
A pioneer of the “rediscovery” of indigenous grape varieties, Sergio Mottura has dedicated a lifetime to research and experimentation with traditional techniques and new technology, studying the DNA of the most promising local varieties, and optimizing pruning methods, soil and land management, and the winemaking process itself – all in the aim of exploiting the potential of a terroir that finds its fullest expression in one particular grape: Grechetto.
His Latour a Civitella, a monovarietal grechetto fermented in French oak barriques, was the first white wine from Lazio ever awarded “tre bicchieri” (the maximum “three glasses”) by Italy’s most prestigious wine guide, the Gambero Rosso/Slow Food ‘Guida ai Vini d’Italia’, who have called it “one of Italy’s greatest whites”.
A pioneer of the “rediscovery” of indigenous grape varieties, Sergio Mottura has dedicated a lifetime to research and experimentation with traditional techniques and new technology, studying the DNA of the most promising local varieties, and optimizing pruning methods, soil and land management, and the winemaking process itself – all in the aim of exploiting the potential of a terroir that finds its fullest expression in one particular grape: Grechetto.
His Latour a Civitella, a monovarietal grechetto fermented in French oak barriques, was the first white wine from Lazio ever awarded “tre bicchieri” (the maximum “three glasses”) by Italy’s most prestigious wine guide, the Gambero Rosso/Slow Food ‘Guida ai Vini d’Italia’, who have called it “one of Italy’s greatest whites”.