Storia & Territorio

History

Ca’ Vescovado is located in Lugugnana, a hamlet of Portogruaro, a few kilometers from the old town. It is a vast fertile territory between the rivers Livenza and Tagliamento, on the border between Veneto and Friuli, between the countryside and the sea. In ancient times, as can be seen from the writings of the Roman architect Vitruvius, part of this territory was marshland and uninhabited.

The first major reclamation works were carried out in the first half of the first century AD. Subsequently, with the fall of the Roman Empire, the entire area was invaded by the barbarian populations and once again abandoned. It was not until the 16th century, when the Republic of Venice found itself forced to buy wheat in the eastern territories, that the need to reclaim these areas for agricultural production became clear. The process was completed only in the first half of the 20th century when, with the Baccarini Law, structured reclamation works were undertaken.

Lugugnana, whose name derives from the Latin Locus Annia, "place along the Via Annia" - the trade route that from Rome reached Aquileia through Concordia Sagittaria - is a crossroads rich in history: numerous Roman discoveries were made during the archaeological digs and which are now kept in the National Museum of Portogruaro. In 1140, the bishop of Concordia, Gervino, handed over the land he owned for the construction of the city of Portogruaro, whose vocation since its origins was trade, given its strategic position along the river Lemene.

This is where the name of our company "Ca Vescovado" comes from, in honour of the lands that belonged to the Bishop. These lands, farmed in a sharecropping system, were divided into houses, each with its own name that covered the whole area allotted. The area in which our winery is located was part of one of these houses too; the name "Debbio" can still be seen on the rustic farmhouse on the right of the main entrance even although time and weather have taken their toll. In modern topography and satellite maps it is still possible to identify this land and the other plots into which Lugugnana is divided, and the names of whose houses remain in the toponymy.

Territory

The soil, due to its origins and position near the sea and waterways, is sandy and rich in salts and minerals. The cultivation of vines dates back to ancient times, as demonstrated by the discovery of grape seeds preserved in wineskins found during the archaeological digs of a Roman villa near Marina di Lugugnana.

Before the reclamation works, only the higher areas were cultivated, because, being principally a depressed area, marshland dominated between Torresella and the sea. In 1620, the first consortium of the Venetian Republic was established, called Canal di Lugugnana, and began the reclamation works between the Destra Tagliamento and the Canal di Lugugnana, making the land towards the coast arable too.

The position of our vines in a territory between the sea and the mountains means that they benefit from the mild climate and the sea breezes, and from a favourable condition for the cultivation of vines whose well-being affects the quality of our wines.