A fairy tale. Once upon a time…

At Mazzorbo, near Torcello, in the Venetian Lagoon, where – in winter – the sky and water blend together, and the land seems to float in a think grey blanket of mist, once upon a time a wine-grower from Valdobbiadene caught sight of some grapevines he was not familiar with, in a vegetable garden. He asked an old man who was tending them what type of vine it was, and he explained that it was Dorona, the Venetian Doges’ vine, and in the whole Lagoon there were only few plants left. “Yes, we tend them with great love, even though they are difficult to keep. Just one and a half metres underground there is brackish water, and in winter, when the tide is high, the lagoon water often laps against the plants. But we love them, we plant roses near the grapevines, because they are delicate plants and indicate the presence of any disease before it propagates.”
This is how the wine-grower fell in love with these plants, and extended his search to the neighbouring lagoon islands, until collecting 80 of them. It was the start of a dream, which led to a one hectare vineyard producing almost 4,000 bottles a year. Too few to justify industrial production, but enough to reward commitment and warm the heart. The Doges, too, should be grateful.
Like in this fortunate case, there are many things to rediscover, care for and save in our Country; and every time we recover a product, a tradition or a work of art, we grow a little richer. Not only those who make use of that recovered good, but all of us within our system called Italy.