In a previous article, I promised myself I’d seek out ancient grape varieties that produce exceptional wines. Orto di Venezia is one of the very few wineries in Venice still producing wine. It’s located in a charming farmhouse on the island of Sant’Erasmo, with a splendid view of the lagoon.
Orto di Venezia is a surprising white wine, rich in minerals, that tells a unique story, being the only wine grown within the territorial boundaries of Venice. For centuries, the island of Sant’Erasmo was renowned for the quality of its agricultural products, which supplied the Venetian market. In the 16th century, during Venice’s golden age, the island was covered in vineyards… then, in the 17th century, the winemaking industry ceased to exist.
Michel Thoulouze’s journey began in France, after founding several television stations. In 2000, he purchased a villa on Sant’Erasmo and its 11 hectares of land, 4.5 of which are now planted with vineyards. Michel and his family decided to revive wine production on the island, using the traditional methods
of local farmers, the expertise of friends Lydia and Claude Bourguignon, the renowned French soil microbiologists at Romanée Conti in Burgundy, and the legendary Alain Graillot, whose Crozes Ermitage wines are renowned worldwide. To revive the flavor of the wines of the past, pre-phylloxera, the vines were not grafted onto phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks, but planted directly into the soil.
Today, around 15,000 bottles of Orto wine are produced here each year, and can be found in Venice, of course, but also in the world’s finest restaurants: it was the only Italian wine, off the menu, chosen, for example, at Alain Ducasse’s Parisian restaurant at the Hotel Plaza Athénée.
Orto is born thanks to a unique terroir, but it is, above all, created by a great man: Monsieur Thoulouze. In the late 1990s, while waiting for a delayed flight on the lagoon, he was struck by an old farmhouse with a splendid view, and it was love at first sight.
In the tasting:
Orto di Venezia is produced from a blend of Malvasia Istriana with the addition of Fiano and Vermentino. The distinctive aroma, the fruit of a terroir rich in clay, limestone, and shellfish, the pure and persistent flavor resulting from 4-5 years of aging, and the sparkling golden transparency are among Orto’s most striking features.
Straw yellow in color, Orto di Venezia’s nose evokes ripe golden delicious apples and honeysuckle. Full-bodied, with an initial attack of juiciness, citrus, and orchard fruit, it displays a rich texture followed by honeyed notes, hints of tropical fruit, and orange blossom, great structure, and a salty undertone, for a long and savory finish. Orto di Venezia is a white wine with a high mineral content that concentrates and enhances the flavors of the territory and the richness of the terroir.
The Cellar , a beautiful place to visit in the late afternoon to enjoy the marvelous light over the lagoon at sunset, has been renovated while maintaining its original character, with sophisticated details emerging here and there, such as the Orto logo crests added to that of the old manor house (the tallest building in the lagoon, although ironically only three stories high), the gazebo with white wrought-iron chairs, and the strings of industrial lights strung between the buildings. After reading this, a natural question arises: how do I get to the winery? Well, the winery can be reached by boat or by vaporetto no. 13 from Cavallino Treporti (15 minutes) or from Venice Fondamenta Nuove (40 minutes), Capannone stop. About a kilometer away, you can also visit the famous Torre Massimiliana, known as the Austrian Tower, a 19th-century fortress that also played a role in the Second World War, adding to the numerous wartime towers and fortifications that characterize the Treporti lagoon area.