Mate Winery

About

Reservations are required for winery tours and tastings. Please contact us via email or the phone number above. The Etruscan celebration of life--beauty, food, and wine--is alive today on the Mate family's boutique wine estate. Twenty years ago, Ferenc and Candace Mate, author and painter, fell in love with an abandoned 13th century friary--its romantic tower, courtyard, and two private hills. Within its 28 hectares of Mediterranean woods were fragrant fields of wild herbs. They planted vineyards on Etruscan-built terraces and in seven fields of varying altitudes, expositions and subsoils. For each site, they carefully chose a grape varietal, rootstock, and clones. In marl, mineral-rich shale and tufaceous soil--all abundant in calcareous fossils of a primordial ocean bottom--vines planted to a high density, forced their roots deep through varied layers, enhancing the grapes' flavors and perfumes. The Mate's hand-made wines, from organically grown, carefully selected grapes, are internationally acclaimed.

At a glance

• Typical visit: about 1 hour 30 minutes