Between sky and sea, the vineyards in Venice: from “IsolaLeVignole” to the new Santa Margherita wine

The sky, the sea, the eighteenth century buildings, the canals and gondolas, and then the vineyards: in Venice, one of the most magical cities in the world, new and special wine projects are flourishing, in addition to those already present in the Serenissima, already reported on WineNews, from Bisol to the Consorzio Vini Venezia. On the Isola delle Vignole, right in front of the city, 2 hectares of Dorona grapes, an ancient vine native to the lagoon, have recently been planted, which will be one of the attractions of “IsolaLeVignole”, a suggestive location intended to host events and wine tastings. Instead, the Marzotto family (Santa Margherita) presents the new release of “Harmonia Mundi”, a limited edition label born inside the Convent of San Francesco della Vigna, the oldest urban vineyard in Venice, dating back to the thirteenth century.
The “IsolaLeVignole” project originated from four Venetians and a Friulian entrepreneur (Antonio Vianello, owner of the former historic Trattoria alle Vignole, Carlo Zangrando, agricultural entrepreneur, Roberto Boem, owner of Destination Venice in Venice, Francesco Ghisini, Venetian lawyer and Marco Perco, owner of the Roncús winery in Friuli Venezia Giulia). In the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century, people arrived at Isola alle Vignole by boat to eat pasta with bovoletti (little land snails, found in the weeds near the sea), accompanied by a glass of wine with soda. Since 2020 the ancient Trattoria alle Vignole had been closed, today it reopens with a completely new look, which places respect for the territory, its cultural identity and its specific biodiversity at the center of its work. The structure includes spaces for private and corporate events, an organic vegetable garden and an indigenous vineyard, where wines are produced for guided tastings. All the vegetable, fruit and grape crops grown on “IsolaLeVignole” come from brackish soil, giving a light and characteristic salty flavor to the fruits of the earth, including the wine, which has a light salty aftertaste: the roots of the vine, in fact, absorb the salt contained in the soil of this small island, offering an extraordinary sensory experience.
“Harmonia Mundi” is a limited edition wine, the first recent edition of which dates back to 2015, produced in the ancient Convent of San Francesco dalla Vigna. Since 2020, the agronomists and technicians of Santa Margherita, a group owned by the Marzotto family, have intervened to support the friars in managing the vineyard and producing wine. The new release of “Harmonia Mundi” – whose name derives from the writing “Harmonia Mundi” by Francesco Zorzi, designer of the sixteenth-century façade of the church – will be presented next June 5, in the exclusive version by Santa Margherita.