The History
Tradition and Innovation
We have a long family history. It kicked off as a lifetime project when Francesca moved from Rome to Colonna to embrace her husband Pierluigi’s passion for the land and its wine.
The newly born business was re-established from the ashes of what had been a flourishing business of wine production and trade since the early 20th Century founded by Mariano Donati and subsequently passed on from one generation to the next until the early Eighties when it came to an end with the death of Pierluigi’s father, Alberto.
In the early Nineties, Francesca and her husband, an experienced agronomist, were ahead of their time when they chose to embrace organic farming. Until that moment the family had been working on a production that was mainly based on quantity. Their plan was to change things around: in line with the times and with Pierluigi’s technical and scientific knowledge, they replanted all the vineyards and renovated the winery with the intention of producing quality wine by focusing on the biodiversity and sustainability, both in the land and in the winery.
The family later expanded with the birth of Ludovica, who is actively helping her family with each grape harvesting.
The family took on from the original plan with much dedication and sacrifice. They began by selling good quality bulk wine and later proceeded to wine bottling. The results were successful and the first product to hit the market was the Labicum wine, an excellent vintage of white wine that is named after Colonna’s ancient name, Labicum Quintanense.
Immediately committed to promoting the territory, Cardone Winery, then called Azienda Vitivinicola Francesca Cardone Donati, has been one of the founding members of the Strada dei Vini dei Castelli Romani (local Wine’s route) later becoming a full supporter of the new DOC Roma.
The company has been a pioneer in the business as promoter of organic culture for many years. Over the following thirty years, it has remained loyal to its family creed thus consolidating its position in the local market: Francesca promotes organic products while guaranteeing a Zero Kilometre supply chain and sale. She keeps close contact with her customers by being continuously present in markets, fairs and directly supplying solidarity purchasing groups. She is keen on introducing her products by giving detailed descriptions as well as all the additional information that lies behind the bottle.
Having affirmed the choice of organic farming that has characterized the company since its inception, in 2020 it started integrating some of the principles of biodynamic agriculture into its vineyards. Today, Cardone Winery is a well-established business in the continuously expanding organic wine market in Latium. The winery’s products are known and appreciated by the most demanding, health-conscious and environmentally friendly customers who prefer a natural and authentic product and are keen on discovering or perhaps rediscovering the taste of a wine from the past.
As Francesca now finds herself in a totally different scenario compared to the past and in a much more diffused organic farming culture, she strongly believes in the great value of this territory and its products and therefore is proud to promote awareness and quality out of the region.
