Saint Margaret presents Harmonia MundiThe first sparkling wine made in Venice with the grapes grown in the cloisters of Saint Francis of the Vigna, which have guarded the oldest urban vineyard in the city for 800 years. A unique wine, offered in a limited edition with only 1,107 precious bottles numbered for the 2022 vintage, capable of enclosing the mysticism of the places of prayer and the essence of the lagoon territory, testifying to the strong bond between Santa Margherita and the Lion of St. Mark.
Harmonia Mundi is a Charmat Method sparkling wine which derives its finesse and complexity thanks to a prolonged stay on the yeasts of at least six months, together with the noble vines that gave it birth: Glera and Malvasia, the most widespread white varietals in Veneto at the time of Serenissima, replanted in San Francesco della Vigna by the agronomists of Santa Margherita in 2019. A wine that brings back the traditional cultivation techniques of the past, such as the cultivation of sapling vines, exclusively manual processing in the vineyard and the valorization of biodiversity thanks to the sowing of varieties of perennial flowers that intersperse the rows with their kaleidoscopic inflorescences. With the first harvest, which took place on 30 August 2022, 1,107 examples of elegant and refined numbered bottles were produced: a symbolic number, which takes up the linear meters along which the vineyard unfolds.
The production of this precious sparkling wine is the result of the redevelopment process of the vineyards that have inhabited the cloisters of the convent since 1253: an ambitious project aimed at sealing the historic bond between the iconic wine brand and the city of Venice. A relationship born almost a century ago, when the founder of Santa Margherita, Count Gaetano Marzotto, chose the Venetian hinterland to give life to a real revolution in Italian agro-industry which in just a few decades led to the birth of one of the most famous Italian winemakers in the world.
What makes the Harmonia Mundi sparkling wine even more exclusive is its precious packaging: a silk-screened bottle whose blue and golden nuances bring the mind back to the colors of the lagoon and the reflections of the lights that are reflected in the waters of its canals at night. Unique in its kind is the elegant box made using disused briccole wood, a further tribute to the city and the singular origins of this wine.
«For us from Santa Margherita – he declares Stefano MarzottoVice President of Santa Margherita Wine Group – the recovery of urban vineyards represents one of the most important initiatives that the world of wine can, and must, undertake today to keep the link with its history, roots and traditions strong and alive. Vineyards have been an integral part of the life and panorama of our cities, representing an essential economic component, characterizing their urban planning and social organisation. This was also the case in Venice which, although limited in its surface area, has cultivated vines in its historic center for centuries. San Francesco della Vigna, which has its roots in the 13th century, is one of the last memories of this presence in the historic center. It is therefore a source of great pride to have intervened for their reorganization and reuse, with the aim of giving further impetus and prestige to the uniqueness of this terroir by signing the birth of the new Harmonia Mundi sparkling wine”.
