Ottella: Where winemaking meets art

Cantina Ottella winery, Lugana, Italy — In the shadow of the Monte Baldo, Lugana winery Cantina Ottella combines art and winemaking.

(Image credit: In the shadow of the Monte Baldo, Lugana winery Cantina Ottella combines art and winemaking)

Questions of philosophy and art are key to understanding the wines of celebrated Lugana producer, Ottella. Ethics meet aesthetics from the moment the visitor wends their way up the drive, under the watchful shadow of the Monte Baldo to the east and the refreshing breezes of Lake Garda to the north.

Situated in Peschiera del Garda and straddling the Italian provinces of Verona and Brescia, the Ottella estate spans 90ha. Here, making wine is seen as an art form all of its own, a creative expression of the unique combination of terroir, vintage and winemaking choices.

Spanning the generations

The land has been in the hands of the Montresor family for over a century, and today sees fifth generation Lodovico and Lamberto join the team. As attested by historian Giovan Battista Perez, the Montresor family is recorded as the only producer of Lugana in the province of Verona as far back as 1905. This sense of historicity is echoed even in the family coat of arms, which recalls the local legend of octuplets, from which the company takes its name ‘Ottella’ (otto = eight).

The key figure in the winery’s history and current identity is Lodovico Montresor, (father of present owners Francesco and Michele), who combined his love of art collecting with the world of wine, and was instrumental in founding the Lugana DOC in 1967.

Geometric concrete tanks at Ottella winery in Lugana, Italy. — Ottella’s geometric concrete tanks illutrate how the winery combines the practical with the beautiful.

Where winemaking becomes an artform

For Michele Montresor, the beauty of art has an important role to play – in life and winemaking. From the state-of-the-art winery, whose project started in 2013, to the art works by famed contemporary artists from Mauro Staccioli to Giuseppe Bonetti, which sit alongside artefacts from the classical world, beauty lies at the heart of Cantina Ottella. The family’s contribution to regional art galleries and cultural causes is also substantial.

The sense of awe provoked upon entering the majestic barrel room says it all, leaving space for a quasi-religious pause, further evoked by the modern take on da Vinci’s Last Supper by the artist Julia Bornefeld which adorns one side of the room. Everything at Ottella seeks to combine the practical with the beautiful, from the geometric design of the concrete tanks, to the line of illuminated amphora – this is both a living art gallery and functional winemaking space.

The Montresor approach is not merely a question of aesthetics, but rather an attempt to integrate business with beauty – such as the windows of the bottling room which look out over a refreshing green courtyard. In the words of Michele, ‘We believe that a strong work ethic, together with showing respect for the land and the people that work on it, are the foundations on which to build our future’.

Ottella’s vineyards in northern Italy are still considered to have a ‘Mediterranean climate’.

The distinctive wines & terroir of Lugana

With glacial origins, the soils of Lugana are predominantly calcareous and clay based, spotted like the pelt of a leopard. From sparkling to sweet, skin-contact wines to single-vineyard expressions, this is the heartland of the ancient native grape variety, Trebbiano di Lugana (locally known as Turbiana).

Conceived as three different interpretations of the territory, the following wines are 100% Turbiana and are united by their mineral character and salinity:

Lugana DOC

Produced from estate vineyards in the southern area of Lake Garda. Aged for five months on the fine lees, fresh yet rounded, with distinctive citrus and exotic fruit notes, and an elegant label design.

Le Creete

The white-clay soils of Ottella’s oldest vineyard – 12ha of vines that are up to 100 years old – produce this Turbiana. Late-picked, hand-harvested and aged for 6-8 months on the fine lees. Notes of grapefruit, pineapple and green bell pepper mingle with hints of elderflower, concluding on a satisfying saline note.

Molceo

An exciting example of Turbiana’s potential for ageing, with 18 months lees contact and aged in bottle for one year before release. Fresh, linear acidity, notes of gunflint mingle with guava tropicality, mature peaches and floral character, together with a gentle floral fragrance, a hint of balsamic and a long, saline finish.

Visiting Cantina Ottella is a fully immersive experience, an opportunity to enter into the philosophy of the Montresor family and to understand first-hand their holistic approach to winemaking, where values and aesthetics have a key role to play.