Lorenzo Biscontin
From February 1st, Santa Margherita Gruppo Vinicolo has become “HERITA MARZOTTO WINE ESTATES”.
This is not a simple formality but a change that shows the changes that have occurred over the years in the structure and size of this wine group and its future vision.
At the beginning, ninety years ago, it was the Zignago wine produced by Cantine S.F.A.I., an acronym that stood for Società Fondiaria Agricolo Industriale, the innovative agri-food hub founded by Gaetano Marzotto on the 1,500-hectare estate located between Fossalta di Portogruaro and the Adriatic Sea, between the mouths of the Tagliamento river to the north and the Lemene river to the south.
Then, with the development of the urban-industrial village of Villanova Santa Margherita, “Santa Margherita di Portogruaro” was added to the label.
Following the further development of the company, it was necessary to strengthen its identity by creating “Tenuta Santa Margherita”, thus separating itself from other food productions of the Zignago group.
We thus arrive at the end of the last century, when Santa Margherita expands beyond its original nucleus thanks to the acquisition of estates and cellars throughout the peninsula. Santa Margherita is no longer just the name of the main cellar, but also becomes the reference to indicate Santa Margherita Wine Group.
However, growth continues and acquisitions continue in Italy and the United States. By now the historic name “Santa Margherita”, as important as it is, is no longer able to represent such a broad and articulated reality and so we arrive at “HERITA MARZOTTO WINE ESTATES”.
Stories are never as linear as they are told and therefore to understand the long road traveled in these ninety years it is good to remember the 10 cellars that today make up “HERITA MARZOTTO WINE ESTATES”:
– Santa Margherita;
– Torresella;
– Kettmeir;
– Ca’ del Bosco;
– Cà Maiol;
– Lamole di Lamole;
– Vistarenni;
– Tenuta Sassoregale;
– Cantina Mesa;
– Roco Winery
A total of 760 hectares in some of the most famous areas of Italian winemaking: Eastern Veneto, Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, Trentino-Alto Adige, Lugana, Franciacorta, Chianti Classico, Maremma and Sardinia. To these are added over 40 hectares in the Willamette Valley in Oregon.
For those who like numbers, we are talking about 255.3 million euros in turnover in 2023 with an export share of 72% achieved in over 90 countries, 425 employees and 405.5 million euros in investments over the last twenty years.
What united and guided the development that led “HERITA MARZOTTO WINE ESTATES” to be a protagonist in the world wine business?
First of all, an enlightened family management that allows the implementation of long-term strategies. The group is in fact still owned by the founder’s grandchildren: the four brothers Gaetano, Stefano, Luca and Nicolò Marzotto, respectively President, Vice President and members of the Board of Directors of the Company.
A vision of family entrepreneurship that also characterizes the companies acquired over the years and from which the choice to favor local suppliers in every context derives, with the willingness to make the wineries a substantial part of the community in which they operate.
The other common thread that unites the wineries of the group is dynamism and orientation towards innovation. Examples of this vision are the sparkling wine production of the Glera from the hills of Valdobbiadene in 1952, even before the Prosecco denominations existed, the creation of the Italian style Pinot Grigio, which has become the emblem of Italian white wine in the world, the pioneering in seeking the excellence of the classic method in Franciacorta and Alto Adige, the valorization of native vines in Veneto, Tuscany and Sardinia.
Finally, a style of wines that in every territory has always sought to express elegance rather than power.
“HER ITA” is a versatile name. It contains a piece of “Santa Margherita”, therefore a piece of history, it recalls the English “heritage”, a term more than ever appropriate for a group that is now operating on an international level and in which the fourth generation of the Marzotto family is emerging.
However, I also read it separately as “HER ITA”, a diminutive of Margherita but also of Italy.
I see it as an omen for “HERITA MARZOTTO WINE ESTATES” to continue to represent the Italian way of wine for the next ninety years, at least.
According to the words of Gaetano Marzotto, there is no doubt about it.
«It is a source of great pride for me and my brothers – comments Gaetano Marzotto, grandson of the founder and President of HERITA MARZOTTO WINE ESTATES – to be able to celebrate the ninetieth anniversary of the start of that incredible dream that was the landing in the agri-food sector accomplished by our grandfather. It is not reductive to say that where there was once a large estate managed by sharecropping, a reality has prospered that has made the history of Italian wine and that still today continues to invest and grow. Pride and, naturally, a great responsibility for our entire family, including the new generation in the company, who strongly believes in this project and who sets further ambitious goals for the years to come”.
