Paolo Petrilli

Motta della Regina before the Petrilli family

La Motticella, also known as Motta della Regina, is an ancient rural settlement in the countryside of Lucera. It appeared on maps before the year 1000. Lucera itself predates the Roman period, allied with Rome against the Samnites, later hosted the court of Frederick II, and remained the capital of Capitanata until 1806.

During the Middle Ages, Motta della Regina served as a stopping point on the route between inland Lucera and Lesina, then a Venetian outpost on the Adriatic. The property subsequently became a fief of the Caropresa, Zunica and Serra di Cassano families.

The masseria and the first Paolo Petrilli

The whitewashed masseria was built in the eighteenth century. Its complex included a church, accommodation for agricultural labourers, stables and underground grain pits. An elementary school continued to operate there until the 1960s.

In the early twentieth century, Paolo Petrilli—the grandfather of the present proprietor—purchased the estate using the dowry of his wife, Teresa. It was joined to the neighbouring family properties of Feudo, Bisciglieto, Sequestro and De Iulio.

1988: creation of the modern agricultural estate

In 1988, the present-day Paolo Petrilli adopted a new model for the land, centred on its long-term stewardship. He began farming organically, without pesticides or herbicides and with the intention of protecting the soil and air for future generations. Azienda Agraria Paolo Petrilli was established in the same year, at a time when organic agriculture had neither an established market nor subsidies.

The estate subsequently developed an integrated production chain based on its own grapes, tomatoes and durum wheat, deliberately favouring quality and local plant material over high yields.

1997: the family settles at Motta della Regina

In 1997, the Petrilli family made the estate its permanent home so that family life and the agricultural project would be rooted in the same place. The historic buildings were restored with reclaimed materials and traditional construction techniques. Oaks and Mediterranean scrub were planted to reconstruct elements of the earlier Tavoliere landscape.

1998–2002: reconstruction of the vineyards

In 1998, the existing productive vineyards were uprooted. New vines were planted around the estate buildings on poor, calcareous ground at the top of the hill, approximately 300 metres above sea level. Low-vigour 420A American rootstock was grafted by hand exclusively with the estate’s selected local varieties. The replanted vineyards produced their first harvest in 2002.

2015: zoning and a new cellar direction

In 2015, vineyard zoning was accompanied by a radical change in cellar practice. High-technology fermenters, routine temperature control, mechanical pump-overs and micro-oxygenation gave way to 10-quintal truncated-conical wooden vats, indigenous fermentations and manual punch-downs. The approach was conceived as a return to the local winemaking methods of the 1930s, placing the progress of each fermentation ahead of technological standardisation.

The estate also adopted a strict vintage-selection policy. Over a twenty-year period, five vintages were not released because the fruit or resulting wine did not meet its quality threshold.

Today

The estate continues to make wine only from its own organically grown grapes. Its eleven hectares of vines surround the masseria, and annual production remains below 100,000 bottles. Farming, vinification and ageing are organised around low yields, manual work, spontaneous fermentation, local grape varieties and the avoidance of synthetic chemicals and animal-derived processing products.

Organic methods have been used across the agricultural estate since 1988. The vineyards are cultivated without synthetic herbicides, pesticides or fertilisers, and the wines are certified organic. The estate also describes its approach as regenerative: soil fertility and nitrogen are supported naturally through close rotations, green manure with legumes, and the incorporation of cereal and winter-vegetable residues.

The vine rows retain permanent spontaneous groundcover rather than chemically controlled bare soil. This cover supports soil life and biodiversity, while field operations are kept deliberately restrained. Pruning and crop management aim at low yields rather than maximum production, with bunch selection beginning in the vineyard.

Three hectares of oaks and Mediterranean scrub have been planted around the cultivated land to reconstruct the historical Tavoliere landscape, restore habitats for native species, absorb carbon dioxide and generate oxygen. A farm weather station monitors temperature, rainfall, humidity and wind so crop-protection work can be timed more precisely. Satellite guidance on tractors improves the accuracy of field operations and reduces fuel, seed and fertiliser use.

Harvesting is manual. Bunches are selected by hand, and fruit for the most demanding selections is transported in small containers to preserve integrity and limit oxidation. Some harvest work begins at dawn. If the condition of the crop does not justify bottling, the vintage is abandoned; this occurred five times in twenty years.

The cellar works only with grapes grown on the estate’s eleven hectares. Harvesting and bunch selection are manual, and grapes may be moved in small containers to protect them before processing.

Since the 2015 cellar reorientation, the central vessels have been truncated-conical wooden vats with a capacity of 10 quintals. Fermentations begin spontaneously with indigenous yeasts from the grapes and cellar. Selected yeasts, enzymes and fermentation activators are not part of this approach. Fermentation proceeds without routine temperature control, with extraction managed through slow manual punch-downs rather than forced mechanical pumping.

The cellar follows organic and vegan oenological practices. Synthetic chemical processing aids and animal-derived products are not used; this includes egg albumin, fish glue and casein traditionally employed for fining. Chemical fining, forced stabilisation and aggressive filtration are avoided in the estate’s low-intervention wines.

After fermentation and racking, wines mature either in stainless steel or in French oak, including previously used, untoasted barrels. Steel is used to preserve freshness and aromatic definition, while untoasted wood permits gradual evolution without imposing toasted flavours. The precise vessel and duration depend on the intended cuvée and vintage.

The estate does not seek complete year-to-year uniformity. Fermentation and maturation are allowed to reflect the fruit and growing season, and bottling waits until the wine has reached an appropriate natural balance. Production across seven labels remains below 100,000 bottles per year.

Paolo Petrilli’s agricultural philosophy begins with the premise that sound wine depends on sound fruit, and that sound fruit is inseparable from the health of the soil and surrounding ecosystem. Organic farming was adopted in 1988 as an ethical and intergenerational decision, before the category offered an established market or public subsidies.

The estate places local identity ahead of standardisation. It grows only local grape varieties, accepts low yields, preserves spontaneous vegetation, and treats each vintage as an independent agricultural season. Its willingness to forgo an entire release when quality is insufficient is an extension of the same principle: producing less is preferable to correcting or commercialising a wine that does not meet the estate’s threshold.

In the cellar, minimal intervention is intended to accompany rather than redesign what the vineyard has produced. Spontaneous fermentation, manual work, restrained extraction, neutral maturation vessels and patience replace a pursuit of technological repeatability. The 2015 change was framed as a return to the direct winemaking practices associated with the area in the 1930s.

The wider farm links environmental responsibility to social responsibility. It values safe work, individual rights, local employment, clear delegation of responsibility and durable relationships with the surrounding community. Quality, environmental care and the dignity of agricultural work are treated as parts of the same production model.