Famiglia Cotarella winery was founded in 1979 in Montefiascone by the two brothers Renzo and Riccardo Cotarella, both enologists and deeply rooted in this territory between Lazio and Umbria regions.

Retrieving historical vines was considered of paramount importance among the initial goals. As a matter of fact this territory had been famous for centuries for its outstanding wines, which were the privilege of the Roman aristocracy and the Popes, yet, in recent years, it had almost sunk into oblivion.

Therefore it took several years of painstaking research and selections before old clones, which had almost been considered extinct, could be isolated along with extremely delicate microvarieties with their matchless aroma and organoleptic value that were lost with the planting of specialized vineyards in the 1960s. Beside retrieving vines, we have tried to spot areas with a marked viticultural vocation in which the exposure and the peculiar composition of the soils could result in very high quality products. Here the oldest and rarest local varietals of white grapes had survived , among others the Roscetto, which, as from studies on DNA by Professor Attilio Scienza, come from the family of the grape called Greco. . It is only ten years later, in 1989, that we started producing Est! Est!! Est!!! Poggio dei Gelsi , a wine that, in a few years’ time, has managed to give prestige to a territory that had long been unjustly forgotten. Starting from vintage 1998, therefore after quite a few years’ experience and research into the intriguing Roscetto variety, we have produced Ferentano a wine which thoroughly expresses the potential and the richness of these grapes. Another outstanding result was achieved with a red wine. This time the selected variety was a Merlot clone. Born with the 1993 vintage, Montiano has been acclaimed since the beginning as one of the greatest and most innovative Italian red wines, being conspicuous for its elegance, precious aromatic make-up and its great concentration and structure. Montiano showed once again the vocation to the quality of our territories. We had to understand which type of grape could express better. with vintage 2001, we thought, it would be worthwhile making the most of another variety which has been linked to the Lake Bolsena area for ages. In fact from Pomele Winery come from the Aleatico grape from which we obtain a wine, the Pomele, which is best known for its typical aroma, freshness and agreeability. Recently Famiglia Cotarella has enriched its property with the acquisition of the Marciliano estate, of 260 hectares, which is situated on a wonderful hill south of Orvieto in the municipality of Montecchio. In these vineyards we grow the Merlot, Cabernet and Sangiovese grapes for the production of Vitiano and Merlot dell’Umbria, but also Vermentino and Verdicchio to achieve the Vitiano Bianco. From the best vineyard in the estate we produce wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon grapes which gave birth to a wine that take the same name of the winery, Marciliano, it fully expresses the character of these grapes grown in this area. In the same area we also implanted an experimental vineyard with over 32 different varieties, in partnership with the University of Tuscia in Viterbo. They range from Nero d’Avola to Primitivo, Malbec from the Tannat gradually through the Carmenere, Montepulciano and Teroldego.

“There are two important reasons which explain why we subscribed this project.
1.First of all, the project is about the scientific research, oriented to the deep knowledge of natural phenomenons which happens in the wine and in the grapes; after that intervene, always for a reason and in the most soft way as possible, to prevent the normal and natural alterations of the wine
2. I am proud about the fact that twenty-five different manufacturers to source, grapes, wine, etc., could join common forces and experiences which desire to emphasize, each with their own ideas and programs, to the characteristics of their wines.”
Riccardo Cotarella