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We work the vineyard manually following the principles of organic and biodynamic agriculture, in balance with our land and our surroundings.

A unique place

The Castello di Morcote estate is a 150-hectare farm and winery
under organic and biodynamic management.

A large part of the estate's surface area is woodland, a true green lung in which a multitude of wild animals live, including foxes, badgers, deers and numerous bird species. At the foot of Mount Arbostora and Mount Tenza lie the vast dry meadows of Alpe Vicania, a nationally protected area due to its richness of nature and landscape.

On the southern tip of the promontory are our highly biodiverse vineyards, managed in harmony and balance with other crops and with numerous species of flowers and wild herbs. The farm's animals complete this ecosystem: bees, chickens, donkeys and horses.

The vineyards

All our grapes come from organically managed vineyards located in the Lugano area, in Morcote, and in the most suitable areas of the Mendrisiotto.

The terroir of Morcote (7 hectares)

Castello di Morcote possesses an extraordinary terroir for viticulture: the vineyards are situated between 400 and 500 meters above sea level on steep slopes facing south; the climate is regulated by the thermal winds from the lake with optimal day-night excursions; the roots of the vines sink into the loose soil on layers of pink porphyry, quartzite of volcanic origin. A unicum in Ticino.

This spectacular landscape, nestled in the Lugano Pre-Alps, bears witness to the region's intense volcanic activity before the formation of the Alps 200 million years ago.

The varieties cultivated on the seven hectares at Morcote are Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, from which the DOC wines Castello di Morcote and Fuoco are obtained.

The terroir of Mendrisiotto (7 hectares)

Further south, in the hilly areas of Mendrisiotto, from the vineyards of Ligornetto and Tremona (at the foot of Monte San Giorgio), where the soil is predominantly made of limestone, come most of our white grapes, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot grapes come from the vineyards in Morbio, above the Breggia Gorges and in Coldrerio, on clay soils.

With these grapes we obtain the white wines Bianca Maria and our Chardonnay as well as the red wines Il Moro and Rubino.

The wine cellar

Our wine cellar is located in the centre of the natural amphitheatre formed by the vineyard terraces and was designed by integrating the new winemaking area with the old stone buildings. Built with natural materials according to the principles of sustainable architecture, it is entirely solar-powered.

In the cellar, our role is to accompany the grapes, intervening as little as possible, thus creating the best conditions for creating wines capable of expressing, with great character, the terroir from which they come.

The grapes from each vineyard are vinified separately in steel vats or wooden vats, to respect the specificity of each terroir: small vats allow us to parcel out, to better monitor quality, while wooden vats help us work on the expressiveness of the grapes.

Between the centuries-old walls of the barrique cellar, where a natural spring flows, we age our red wines in French oak barriques of various carats.

In the adjacent room, in barriques or terracotta amphorae, we make the white wines ferment and age.

The style of our wines is characterised by the search for harmony and balance; our aim is to create elegant, long-lived wines that express the terroir from which they come.