This episode of “On the Road Edition” hosted by Stevie Kim takes place at the Cotarella Family winery, Famiglia Cotarella, on the border of Umbria and Lazio in Central Italy. Stevie chats with Enrica Cotarella.
Setting the stage, Enrica says her family is from Umbria, but her uncle and her father (Riccardo and Renzo Cotarella respectively) chose to buy property in Lazio, where they created the first winery in Montefiascone at the end of the 1970s. In 1999, they invested in Umbria and built the Falesco winery, completing the first harvest in 2005. Their Est! Est!! Est!!! from Montefiascone was their historic label and they began production of their Poggio dei Gelsi label there in 1989. All other wines are produced at the Falesco winery in Umbria.
Famiglia Cotarella winery (formerly known as Falesco)
Stevie asks Enrica to give some family history for listeners who are not familiar with the Cotarellas. Renzo and Riccardo Cotarella are truly part of Italian wine folklore and Stevie asks for five things everyone should know about them. Enrica says, first of all, they are a family winery and she represents the third generation, along with her sister Marta and her cousin Dominga. The three women grew up together in the same household, with both sets of parents and their grandmother, which is why they consider themselves sisters. Now, they all work in the company together, with Marta as the CEO, Dominga in charge of commercial business and marketing, and Enrica herself responsible for marketing and communication, as well as hospitality. This becomes the second of Stevie’s 5 things to know; the company currently consists of three generations. They are also located in three territories: Umbria, Lazio, and Tuscany where they have property in Montalcino. The sisters have created new projects adjacent to the winery, including social and educational projects with a new hospitality academy. The fifth thing to know is that they are making wine from an indigenous grape called Roscetto, but they are most famous for their wines made with Merlot.
Digging deeper into the wines the family produces, Stevie asks how many labels they make and what the flagship wines are. Enrica explains that the family produces many different wines, so they decided to divide the production into different collections. The everyday wines include labels such as their Vitiano, Tellus, and Poggio dei Gelsi labels. The second cru wines include Trentanni, Sodale, Verdeluce, and Soente. The special selections include the Brunello wines at Tenuta Le Macioche in Tuscany, the wines produced at Tenuta Marciliano in Umbria, and the Montiano wines in Lazio. In total, Enrica says there are around 20 different labels. Stevie asks what the flagship wine of Falesco and the Famiglia Cotarella is. “The flagship wine is, of course, Montiano,” replies Enrica. “It is our most iconic wine, and was historically a big challenge, but with a beautiful story because, when my uncle Riccardo decided to produce a Merlot in Lazio, everybody thought he was totally out of his mind.” She goes on to say that Riccardo studied the land in Lazio for ten years, looking at the potential for Merlot in the region. Stevie adds that Riccardo is known as the King of Merlot, and Enrica says the first vintage of Montiano Merlot was finally produced in 1993, representing the story of the family and the courage of Riccardo’s generation. He is still the enologist at the winery, following all the wines in their portfolio.
Renzo Cotarella and Stevie Kim
The winery has evolved dramatically in the past several years, and Stevie asks why they changed the name from the original Falesco to Famiglia Cotarella. Enrica says that her father and uncle had no way of seeing into the future when they first began the winery in Lazio. They created a small winery in Montefiascone, and named it Falesco, from the original tribe of Falisci people who populated the area. When the sisters became fully involved in the winery in the early 2000s, they wanted to communicate more directly about their family, so they changed the name to Famiglia Cotarella, enabling them to tell the story of their wines, as well as their new projects, using one name for both.
Moving back to the core business of wine, Stevie asks about the Roscetto grape, a native Italian variety that the family cultivates in Lazio. Enrica tells her that Roscetto was an important challenge for them, because it is an indigenous and historic variety from Lazio, especially near volcanic Lake Bolsena, located between Viterbo and Rome. Roscetto was previously used as a blending grape in Est! Est!! Est!!! wines and had many names in use. Now, it is known as Rossetto, which also means lipstick in Italian. The name comes from the skin of the grape, which turns “a little red” when it is fully ripe. The family carried out 20 years of study with the grape, with the University of Viterbo, and now Famiglia Cotarella is the only winery producing wines made from 100% Rossetto.
Initially, Rossetto was used in the Poggio dei Gelsi blend, until 1998 when they began production of Ferentano Rossetto 100%. They also produce a rosé and a sparkling wine with Rossetto, as well as a white wine and a sweet wine. Enrica comments, “it’s not easy to produce Rossetto because it has a strong, hard skin, so we do a cryo-maceration, using dry ice on the skin to extract all the properties from the skin into the juice.”
Stevie asks about the taste of these wines and Enrica says the variety comes from the Trebbiano family of grapes and could be considered similar to a Chardonnay, however, she thinks its indigenous nature gives it special characteristics, such as almond, pineapple, peach and exotic fruits, along with a mineral, savory note due to the volcanic soil it grows in.
Stevie asks Enrica which is her favorite wine. “It’s not easy, not easy to choose,” she replies, “but it is a very hot day today, in summer, so Sorelle is good for summer, it’s a rosé wine, 100% Merlot, the feminine side of Merlot.”
The Sorelle rosé came from studies the sisters did around Merlot. This led to an evolution in the style of the famous Montiano wine, but they also decided to produce a rosé with Merlot, and Sorelle was released in 2019. The wine is 90% Merlot and 10% Aleatico, another indigenous grape in Lazio. Sorelle is intended to be a summer wine, combining the balsamic herbs of the Merlot with the sweetness of the Aleatico, including strawberries and roses. Stevie and Enrica agree it is perfect as a poolside, patio or beach wine.
Returning to the topic of the Famiglia Cotarella eco-system, Stevie brings up the new hospitality training school the sisters have created, Intrecci, in Lazio. Enrica describes the project as “a big challenge”. It is an academy for food and beverage management and hospitality management. It’s a campus, and we host 25 students every year, aged between 19 and 30 years old. It’s about hospitality and food and wine, but hospitality is a big world, with psychology and other things taken together.”
Intrecci was Dominga’s idea, as she is always travelling and following global markets. In 2014, she told the sisters she wanted to create an academy. By 2017, they had their first 14 students and now they have 25 each year, for six months in residence at the academy and another six months when they travel for internships in Michelin star restaurants and important hotels all over the world.
Stevie asks about the name, Intrecci, and Enrica explains that “in-tre-ci” means “in three c’s” in Italian, so incorporating the three Cotarella sisters, as well as the three values of courage, curiosity, and culture. Most of the students are at the younger end of the age spectrum, between 19-23, but graduates go on to international jobs in Michelin style restaurants, wine management positions, hospitality management, and events management. During their studies at Intrecci, the students acquire knowledge of many topics beyond food and beverage, including marketing, communication, languages, and WSET wine training.
Left to right: Marta, Enrica, Stevie and Dominga
The Cotarella Family also has a foundation and Stevie asks Enrica about it. The Cotarella Family foundation was launched in 2018 with the Tellus Farm, created in part due to Dominga’s son, Riccardo, who suffered with a rheumatic disease. Dominga wanted to turn this challenge into an opportunity and create something different, and so opened a farm for families and children, with activities, animals, vegetables, vines, and a library. By 2021, also thanks to Riccardo, the foundation was created with a mission to help future generations and families, giving young people and families an instrument and the courage to find new opportunities in life. The foundation works with people with eating disorders and, with the help of medical professionals, they are pursuing the goal of making a positive impact on people’s lives, starting from their relationship with food. Enrica says the Intrecci academy, the farm, and the foundation all share a common goal of creating strong foundations for future generations.
The conversation moves on to Tuscia, which Stevie wants to explore in more detail. Enrica tells her, “Tuscia is the old land of the Etruscans, not just a place between Umbria and Lazio.” Tuscia is an area between Orvieto in Umbria and Lake Bolsena in Lazio, and creeps into the southern part of Tuscany, creating a triangle where the three regions meet. Stevie comments that the Cotarella Family needed to be in Tuscany to complete the Tuscia triangle and Enrica concurs. “In Tuscany we have a small property in Montalcino, called Tenuta Le Macioche, which is the name for strawberry roots, and the hill in front of the property is full of very deep strawberry roots. We bought this property in 2017, during a busy time when we launched the academy and were transitioning the brand from Falesco to Famiglia Cotarella. It is a very small place, with 7.5 hectares of Sangiovese for the production of Brunello. It is a biological production, a beautiful place, my sisters and I are totally in love with this special place. It is southeast of Montalcino.”
Stevie asks Enrica to choose one of her family’s wines from each region of Umbria, Tuscany, and Lazio, and pair it with the perfect food. Enrica starts with Lazio and Montiano, since it is their iconic wine. She suggests the perfect pairing would be Roman meatballs and Coda alla Vaccinara (oxtail), which makes Stevie laugh because it’s such a regional dish. For Umbria, Enrica chooses Verdeluce, the only white wine the family produces in Umbria, and pairs it with typical umbricelli pasta from the region, similar to pici pasta, made with flour, water, and salt, with some tomato sauce. Finally, to Tuscany, where Enrica selects their Brunello di Montalcino and pairs it with the classic Fiorentina steak, because sometimes classics are simply the best.
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