THERE IS A white heart that beats strongly in the center of Italy: Sergio Mottura, undisputed master of Grechetto. The center of Italy is Lazio, the region located halfway down the boot, where you find the country’s capital, Roma. In truth, Sergio Mottura is a winemaker on the frontier. His winery is indeed technically within the confines of Lazio, but only by a few miles. Just north is Umbria, and not far away is the wonderful comune of Orvieto, world renowned for its spectacular duomo.
The land on which Sergio Mottura works is not known for its wine. A thoroughfare between the regions north of Roma, this part of Italy has long remained unexplored apart from commercial trade, relegated to a kind of rural isolation that has maintained the area’s slow rhythms and traditions. The sharecropper held the purse strings until a little more than thirty years ago, and the Mottura family winery has had to deal with this unusual, static system of land management. In the 1960s, the sharecropping system changed when Sergio’s increasing involvement in operations shook everything up. The young winemaker had bet on the vines, with odds that were far from promising. The vines were already in place, but in the most marginal sense. And then there was the question of which vineyards to plant: those in Lazio? Umbria? Sergio found himself at a crossroads, far from the great Italian vineyards in a place where anything was possible but nothing was certain. In speaking with old sharecroppers, consulting books and maps, and experimenting in the field, Sergio found in grechetto the means for realizing his winemaking aspirations. This grape, as its name indicates, is part of the group of varieties (such as greco campano or calabrese) that originated in the Hellenic peninsula and was introduced to Italy when the ancient Greeks colonized the the land in the first centuries A.D. How grechetto managed to travel up the peninsula and take root in Lazio—much less in Umbria—remains a mystery. Very old farmers recall the cultivar being widespread in these areas of central Italy from time immemorial. The grape is strong, robust, resistant, and versatile, and for decades it was used in combination with other varietals both native (procanico especially) and international (the renowned Cervaro della Sala made by Antinori is a blend of chardonnay and grechetto grapes) wines.
Sergio Mottura decided not to vinify grechetto on its own. The Grechetto Latour a Civitella is a clear homage to the masters on the opposite side of the Alps, in particular Louis-Fabrice Latour, the renowned négociant of Burgundy wines and head of one of the most famous producers of barriqued wines. (Sergio acquired his first five small barrels from Latour.) Mottura didn’t quit at the first discouraging results. In fact, in all these years, he has never ceased experimenting, studying clones of his beloved grechetto, trying new grafts and pruning methods, varying the use of wood. A sacred flame kindles his passion and has made him into the Italian emblem of the winemaker who from nothing has achieved something truly incredible. Today, apart from the inconsistent quantity of some wines made with grechetto, you might say that the grape has been delivered from its uncertain past and placed firmly among the noble Italian white varieties. And Sergio, from his magnificent subterranean cellar in the center of the village of Civitella d’Agliano, has become the grechetto ambassador and an authoritative voice among Italy’s top makers of white wines.
Sergio Mottura’s property covers 320 acres (91 of which are dedicated to organic grape cultivation) and is situated in the area surrounding the small center of Civitella d’Agliano. A region little known to the public and still far from the waves of tourists that stop in neighboring Orvieto, it boasts unique geomorphological traits. The environment is ravinelike; a kind of canyon with river origins gives the landscape a severe appearance—rough and somewhat disquieting. The land peaks in Bagnoregio, birthplace of one of the great Catholic saints, the philosopher and theologist Bonaventura. East of Civitella, the panorama opens up toward the wide valley of the Tiber, the legendary river that reaches and crosses the capital, Roma. The soil here is calcareous, and the microclimate is favorable, owing to the mild temperatures of the seasons and regular precipitation throughout the year. Mottura’s vineyards are numerous and spread throughout the Civitella countryside. The antiquated planting and pruning methods have given way to the Guyot traning system, with a density of 2,000 plants per acre.
Grechetto Latour a Civitella is made from carefully selected grechetto grapes grown in the five top vineyards of the property. Productive, precocious, and resistant to disease, grechetto’s Achilles’ heel is its rough tannins. Sergio Mottura has had to work hard in the vineyards (density of plantings, yields, choice of clones) and the cellar (maceration, getting the wood just right) to transform this potential flaw into a strength. I’d say Mottura’s bets have paid off, as his Latour a Civitella is an assertive wine of aesthetic importance. Once harvested, the grechetto grapes are gently pressed and the must is decanted at a low temperature as a preventive measure. Fermentation begins in stainless steel vats and ends in barriques of French oak, where the wine remains nine months in the ancient tufa caves that provide the soul—as well as the scenic aspect—of Mottura’s winery. After six months’ aging in the bottle, the Latour a Civitella is ready to be released.
A straw-yellow color, the wine offers a bouquet of white pepper, grapefruit, fresh flowers, and candied fruit on a smoky and characteristically mineral base. Its tannins prove to be well tamed by an acidic backbone, while oak provides the right amount of roundness. Mottura has created a wine of significance and pleasure from the previously untested grechetto.