Modeano is a small agricultural village on the western edge of the Riviera Friulana, situated halfway between Venice and Trieste. We have been cultivating vines here since 1982, but in May 2023, a new chapter began when Luca and Andrea Cisorio embarked on the exciting journey of managing the historic winery. They are dedicated to preserving the wisdom of the past while forging a path toward the future.
The cultivation of vineyards in this area, belonging to the centuriation of Aquileia, dates back to Roman times. The History of Modeano has a turning point with the purchase funded by Norberto Marzotto who gave life to a model company at the beginning of the twentieth century. He was responsible for the relaunch of wine production and the construction of the cellar, the school and the church of the Madonna del Rosario. The company headquarters is located in the buildings adjacent to Villa Bertuzzi-Ferrari, surrounded by a park full of centuries-old trees. The company-owned vineyards cover an area of 60 hectares distributed throughout the municipality of Palazzolo dello Stella. The vine rearing forms, Guyot or Silvoz, allows the formation of narrow and tidy foliage, through which air and light can pass freely.
OUR HISTORY
The first mention of “Modeano” is in a document from 1561.
The Republic of Venice ceded part of the municipal assets of Palazzolo dello Stella to the Venetian family Dandolo, in order to finance the war against the Turks. Later, the estate passed to the Bertuzzi family and in 1905 to Norberto Marzotto, a famous scholar of vines and author of a famous Italian Ampelography published in 1927.
He transformed what was a simple farm into an inhabited center with new houses for tenants, the church, an elementary school and an after- work.
When his son Arnaldo, at the end of the 1950s, decided to move to America, he sold the land to the former tenants. The company center, the vineyards and the cellar were finally purchased by the family Vialetto-Ferrari in 1982 and then by the cousins Luca and Andrea Cisorio in 2023, until nowadays.
THE VILLA AND ITS PARK
In 1851 the Bertuzzi entrusted the project for the renovation and expansion of their home and for the creation of a park to the architect Andrea Scala.
The latter, at the time in his thirties and fresh from participating in the patriotic uprisings of 1848, proposed a structure whose U-shaped plan was facing north with a garden in the center. Unfortunately, the construction started but not completed. Today there are two wings characterized by two-storey elevations with large windows surrounded by stone and characteristic tympanums and string courses. Andrea Scala then became famous as a designer of dozens of theaters both in Italy and abroad and as a scholar of rural constructions and the creation of gardens.
THE CHURCH OF THE MADONNA DEL ROSARIO
The small church of Modeano was built in 1921, at the end of the reconstruction of all the buildings, looted and partially destroyed during the Austrian occupation, following the defeat of Caporetto, during the 1st World War.
It was dedicated to the Madonna del Rosario, of which it houses an eighteenth-century image of Austrian school. The Virgin Mary is represented with the baby Jesus in her arms, who pierces the serpent with the cross, between Saints Christopher, Lorenzo and Vito. Framed by 15 miniatures, surrounded by roses, depict the Mysteries of the Rosary. The outward appearance is unusual, inspired as it is by alpine models with a steeply sloping roof and a small bell tower crowning the facade.
THE TREES OF MODEANO
The park, although not very large, is rich in tree species, some of which are represented by monumental individuals.
Two high hornbeams, which for decades have escaped the required form, continue the alignment of the buildings. The most majestic tree is a linden tree thirty meters high and with a circumference of over four. Then there are magnolias of imposing size, cypresses, badgers, calocedra and a hazelnut tree whose crown has a diameter of 16 meters. In addition to the centenary trees, many other species have been planted in the last 40 years, including: English oaks, maples, gingki biloba, beeches, lyriodendrons and a metasequoia.
CISORIO, A STORY OF FAMILY AND LAND
Cisorio is our agricultural estate in Pocenia, in the province of Udine. Our story began in 1961 and, across three generations, we have maintained a strong connection with the land and the Friuli Venezia Giulia region.
The experience we have gained over the years now comes together with new knowledge and technologies, with the aim of enhancing our raw materials and transforming them directly into products that reflect our approach to farming: genuine, quality-focused and deeply rooted in the local area.
Wines, craft farm beers, juices, preserves, vinegar and apple cider are born from our desire to give new form to what our land produces, while preserving as much as possible a direct connection between cultivation, transformation and the finished product.