Heritage

It all began in 1935 with Gaetano Marzotto. This story dates back more than 80 years and it is about love for the territory and a constant drive for innovation. Here are the main events and people that have marked Santa Margherita as an international success.

1935

 

Gaetano Marzotto leads the company’s transformation from an agricultural to an agro-industrial business venture: the Portogruaro estate becomes a laboratory where his dream of modernizing Italian agriculture takes shape. Gaetano lays the foundations of what will become a true ‘wine mosaic’. The tesserae that would compose this mosaic are Italy’s best wine making districts: Eastern Veneto, the Adige valley, the hills of Valdobbiadene and Refrontolo, the Alto Adige area, Ca’ del Bosco’s Franciacorta, the Chianti Classico estates of Lamole di Lamole and Vistarenni, the Tuscan Maremma estate of Tenuta Sassoregale and Sicily’s Terrelíade.

  

 

1950

 

In the Fifties, the four Marzotto brothers – Vittorio, Umberto, Giannino e Paolo – are renamed Conti Correnti (the Racing Counts) by the media: four amateur pilots who became legends of European car racing. Giannino Marzotto is the winner of two editions of the Mille Miglia, in 1950 and 1953. In 1954 it is Vittorio who conquers the podium with a Ferrari Sport 500 Mondial. Aside from the Mille Miglia the Marzotto brothers competed with varying success in celebrated races such as Le Mans, the Dolomites Gold Cup Race, the Giro di Sicilia, and won the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix.

 

 

1952

 

This is the year that sees the first sparkling vinification of Prosecco Valdobbiadene, today Prosecco Superiore di Valdobbiadene DOCG. Santa Margherita’s special relationship with Prosecco began quite sometime before it achieved the great popularity it enjoys today. In the space of a few decades the company has succeed in transforming a local product into a truly global phenomenon.

 

1960

 

Santa Margherita’s technical team develops a process from which white wine can be obtained using the Pinot Grigio grapes of Trentino Alto Adige, with their typical rust-colored skins. Thus, a new generation of high-quality wines is born, thanks to continuous investments in oenological research and advanced manufacturing technologies. Wines that express all the freshness of the fruit and are incredibly versatile when it comes to food pairing. Pinot Grigio changed the rules of the game becoming one of Italy’s prized exports and conquering important foreign markets such as the United States.

 

1979

The company’s wine making enterprise is separated from the family’s other manufacturing activities and acquires the name of Santa Margherita Spa. The new logo is a stylized graphic Renaissance design of the beautiful Villa Marzotto in Portogruaro, built in 1540. A Venetian architectural jewel which to this day features on all of Santa Margherita’s wine labels.

1981

 

The company entrusts its advertising campaign to the creative and innovative genius of Emanuele Pirella who creates for Pinot Grigio Santa Margherita D.O.C the unforgettable slogan: “The choice that distinguishes those who can and will from those who would but don’t know how.”

1986

 

Kettmeir is the first new piece added to the wine-mosaic envisioned by Gaetano Marzotto: this is, in fact, the year in which this winery becomes part of the Santa Margherita family. Founded in 1919 by Giuseppe Kettmeier, the estate has remained true to the age-old wine tradition of its area, and under Santa Margherita’s leadership it has become a leading force in the modernization of wine making processes, trialling new technological advances in vinification and bottling.

1993

 

The Santa Margherita Group continues its expansion by welcoming Lamole di Lamole into the family. The Tuscan estate is immersed in a unique landscape at an altitude of over 500 meters, one of the highest elevations found in the district that produces Chianti Classico. The unique temperature range of this area, its sun and wind exposure allow these organically farmed vineyards to achieve the optimal ripeness of the grapes and give the wine its elegance, richness and lingering aromas.

1994

 

Another piece is added to Santa Margherita’s wine mosaic: Franciacorta Ca’ del Bosco, state of the art in the Franciacorta's production, thanks to the original patents developed to improve grape treatment and obtain perfect oxygen management.

2000

 

After Lamole di Lamole, a new Tuscan estate becomes a part of Santa Margherita’s wine mosaic: the Tenuta Sassoregale in the province of Grosseto. Blessed by a unique heritage in terms of biodiversity, the area possesses a distinctive food and wine culture awaiting to be discovered and valued. These original and elegant wines are produced from 38 hectares of land surrounded by Maremma’s unspoilt forests.

2011

 

This year sees the opening of the new Villanova Cantina di Fossalta in Portogruaro, a renewed and expanded estate that confirms Santa Margherita as one of the most important wine producers in Italy. A firm commitment to wine excellence that is based on strong ties to local communities, in line with the Company’s distinctive dedication to social and industrial development.

2011

 

Pinot Grigio turns 50! In recent years this varietal has become the emblem of Italian white wine in the world and Santa Margherita continues to be its ambassador, thanks to the unwavering pioneering spirit that constantly seeks to create wines that embody all the qualities and character of their vineyards. The dialogue with each label’s geographical and cultural environment is the basis for the continuing growth of the brand. Combining craftsmanship, tradition and technological innovation has allowed Santa Margherita to further strengthen the important wine-terroir nexus and perfect a fresh and versatile Pinot Grigio that is ideally suited to be enjoyed as an accompaniment to a wide range of dishes.

2012

 

Prosecco is experiencing a moment of particular success in international markets, and Santa Margherita’s Prosecco celebrates the 60th anniversary of its pioneering sparkling wine making method. It was in 1952 that Santa Margherita, innovating the traditional processing techniques of Prosecco grapes, perfected the sparkling Prosecco we enjoy today, thus helping to build the foundations of its international success. No bottle is more deserving of celebration than the Prosecco Superiore “52”, the result of a sophisticated and elegant grape selection which results in a fresh and young bubbly, with its signature bright straw-yellow colour, intense notes of peach and acacia, the soft and lingering mousse and fine perlage.

2015

 

An important milestone for the Gruppo Vinicolo Italiano, that celebrates its eightieth anniversary, renewing its commitment to innovation achieved through sustainable practice in all aspects of wine making. The estate has achieved complete energetic self-sufficiency, thanks to the use of renewable sources, and has succeed in eliminating more than 923 potential tons of CO2 from the atmosphere every year. Santa Margherita has invested in the elimination of synthetic compound use from the vineyards, the reduction of wasteful water consumption, and maintains a firm commitment towards reforestation and the protection of biodiversity.

2015

 

Santa Margherita is the main sponsor of the Mille Miglia vintage-car racing competition, and enters the 2015 edition with three crews to celebrate the eightieth anniversary of the brand. In this way, the company consolidates the special bond that, since the 1950s, the Marzotto family has shared with this competition, a race that combines old-style glamour, history and authentic popular appeal. Santa Margherita participates to the race with Stefano Marzotto driving the legendary Aurelia B20 of 1953.

2016

 

Since January 1st of this year the company directly oversees the entire management of the brand’s commercial activities and exports to the United States. With the launch of its Familiarization Tour in October 2015 a new path towards the in-house management of this enterprise begins, and Santa Margherita’s American team is accompanied on a tour of all the company’s Italian estates, a wonderful chance to really get to know each wine but also the local history and unique territory that has created it.