La Torretta is a small farm run by Maria Enqvist and Riccardo Magno. It is located in the Valle Marciana, just below Grottaferrata, facing West and overlooking the city of Rome. Behind is the magnificent Monte Cavo, which is part of the great Vulcano Laziale.
The history
The La Torretta estate was bought in the second half of 19th Century by Simone di Mattia, Riccardo’s grandmother’s grandfather’ father. Today the hill where you find La Torretta is home to two small wineries, ours and that of Riccardo’s cousin Gabriele.
As ecologists we are always attentive to environmental sustainability issues, we have developed and promoted greater awareness of nutrition in relation to the flora and fauna that surrounds us. In 2015 we decided to start producing natural wine. We have studied the issue of naturalness in agriculture and in wine production in depth. Moreover, we were fortunate enough to have the expert advice of Michele Lorenzetti and to count on the passionate help of Carlo Noro. In 2019 we bottled our first white wine Torretta Bianco 2018.
We live between Rome and Grottaferrata with our two children.
The property
The estate has been owned by our family since 1864. Two centuries ago La Torretta was composed of more than 30 hectares of vineyards and distributed wine to several taverns in Rome and Castelli Romani. At that time the wine wasn’t bottled but was distributed in barrels by horseback. In the cave that we still use, you can still see the niches that housed the barrels. From the number of niches, we guess that there was strong demand for wine!
The biodiversity
Intensive agriculture is the main reason for the damage done to the local flora, fauna and micro biodiversity.
It our task to prevent the vine from becoming dominant in this way we will be able to manage/control cryptogamic diseases and, in general, the accidents that can affect the vineyards in a natural way.
We aim to create a living unity capable of restoring balance to the internal relations between the various subjects who contribute to the birth of life, starting with us.
Our products
At La Torretta we produce natural wine but also extra virgin olive oil, honey, jam, fruit and vegetables. We are a Sidel certified organic and Demeter certified biodynamic farm that currently produces four wine labels.
We take great satisfaction in making sustainable products that people love, so much so that we are always trying to experiment with new things: you never know, in the future we might expand our offers and production!
Visit our page The Cellar to know our wines and the page Tasting/Distribution.
Our tenants
Nowadays our beloved tenants at La Torretta are a dog, five cats, rabbits, geese, bees, hens and cockrels.