Sella&Mosca, 120 years of Italian wine, and a pioneering spirit dedicated to Sardinia

It was 1899, the year that saw the birth of companies that would have a secular success. Because while in Barcelona was founded the Futbol Club Barcelona, and in Milan was born the Milan Football and Cricket Club, that are two of the most beloved football teams in the world and winning ever, in Sardinia, in Alghero, two pioneers gave life to one of the most important and historical reality of Sardinian and Italian wine, Erminio Sella, grandson of the statesman Quintino, and the lawyer Edgardo Mosca. Two Piedmontese, who, with a majestic reclamation work, which many include in school books, created Sella & Mosca, now a reality of 650 hectares of vineyards, of which 560 in a single unit, one of the largest plots of land in Europe.
A work for the futuristic era, set up in the years when the Europe of wine was devastated by phylloxera, with the idea of Sella & Mosca that was to transform marshy and abandoned lands, in the locality “I Piani”, in one of the largest nurseries for the production of rooted vines for new vines, with the roots of the American vine and the aerial apparatus of vitis vinifera.
An estate that has ridden the history of Italian wine and Sardinia, and that, since 2016, is under the aegis of the Gruppo Moretti, one of the most important realities of Italian wine (with wineries such as Bellavista and Contadi Castaldi in Franciacorta, and Petra, in Suvereto, Tuscany), after having been in the orbit of another leading group of Italian beverage, Campari.
Immersed in an incredible botanical park surrounded by over 550 hectares of vineyards, a place that can not be confused with anyone else, propped up by oleanders, maritime pines, palms and eucalyptus. To these lands are added the small plots of Gallura, in the north-eastern part of the island (15 hectares) and Giba, in Sulcis, on the south-western coast, between Capo Teulada and the mountain range of Iglesiente (6 hectares).
An entrepreneurial reality that celebrates its 120th anniversary, retracing its past rich in history, and looking to the future.
“When we arrived at Sella & Mosca, Francesca and I - explains Vittorio Moretti, president of the Gruppo Terra Moretti - were so impressed by that vineyard with a single body that we could not resist. Our aim is to strengthen the vineyard, to make the winery once again what it has always been in its DNA”.
“As a family, explains Francesca Moretti, of the Gruppo Terra Moretti Vino, "I believe there is a social responsibility to promote and tell the story of the territory. Then it's a virtuous circle and we all benefit too”.
Alongside its enological commitment, in fact, the Gruppo Terra Moretti carries out the architectural and functional recovery of the old business centre, which also includes a small church dedicated to the Madonna dell'Uva and divided into evocative historic cellars together with the manor houses of the time that have now become the subject of agritourism activities.
The company has always been open to innovation, where the great native vines of Sardinia live together with the international ones, a double soul identified in the two iconic wines of Sella&Mosca, the Torbato di Alghero, almost unknown and recovered from the estate, and the Marchese di Villamarina, cabernet sauvignon in purity.
A company that has always looked to the future and that continues to do so, in the name of the territory and its contamination with its excellence, from cuisine (with the chefs chosen to celebrate 120 years that best represent the cuisine of the territory between tradition and creativity, such as Christian Andreini, Stefano Deidda, Luigi Pomata and Oliver Piras) to design, as told by the line of wines created with the Sardinian designer Antonio Marras. There are not many wineries, and Sella&Mosca is one them, that bring together vineyard, know-how, style and fashion, also starting from a story of friendship, born in a party between the two Wars, between two sailors, a boxer and a man unfairly accused of being a bandit. That the genius of the designer Marras has made a story not to be sung, but told in the labels of the bottles. A story of friendship, authentic ties, values and territory.
And, again, in the future, there is also investment in hospitality, with a new project that revolves around the Agriturismo Villamarina, curated by Valentina Moretti, executive vice president of Moretti Costruzioni and creative director of More, Moretti's most innovative soul, which summarizes in a few words, the sense of the overall project of Terra Moretti for Sella & Mosca: “invest, starting from what the earth offers, to give roots to the future”.
A future that is also made up of another great dream dedicated to high-level hospitality, another sector in which Terra Moretti is a ”case history” of excellence (already with realities such as L'Albereta in Franciacorta and L'Andana in Maremma, ed): “the farm is already in place - explains to WineNews Francesca Moretti - but if conditions will allow it, we would like to build a high-level hotel to make an additional contribution to tourism in Alghero, which already has many beautiful facilities, but we would like to invest in the luxury segment”. The project already exists, and it is signed by Savin Couelle, French architect prince of the Costa Smeralda, and already signature of the famous Hotel Cala di Volpe in Porto Cervo.
“He is a great friend of our father Vittorio, and expressed the desire to present with him and my sister Valentina, who is the family architect, the project for a real hotel to be built in Sella & Mosca, a project that is already on paper, which provides the possibility of creating thirty rooms for a tourism of the highest level, we hope that there are all the conditions to achieve it”. With the history of Sella & Mosca, which would be enriched by another undertaking capable of adding another jewel to Sardinia.