From sparkling wine heritage to still: the Lunelli family and their estate in Ravina
Behind Tenuta Margon stands the Lunelli family — in Trentino inseparably linked to the traditional house Ferrari Trentodoc. In the 1980s, the Lunellis decided to transfer their decades of experience in mountain viticulture to still wines and founded Tenuta Margon as their own winery for still wines from Trentino estate sites. The heart of the estate is the Villa Margon in Ravina, located southwest of Trento — a fresco-decorated Renaissance building from the 16th century, which today serves as the representative house of the Lunelli Group. The estate's coat of arms bears a cloverleaf as a symbol of the three cultures that have shaped Trentino over centuries: the Roman, the Bavarian, and the Austro-Hungarian. Tenuta Margon is part of a network of three estates, which also includes Tenuta Podernovo in Tuscany and Tenuta Castelbuono in Umbria — each with its own terroir, all with the same signature.
Organic certified since 2017: mountain viticulture without insecticides and herbicides
The vineyards of Tenuta Margon lie on sunny hills around Trento, at altitudes between 350 and 600 meters above sea level. The soils are predominantly stony with a sandy component; the vines are cultivated in the traditional Trentino pergola system with about 4,000 vines per hectare. The distinct temperature spectrum between day and night is the decisive climatic engine: it slows down ripening, preserves natural acidity, and densifies the aroma profile of the grapes.
For years, the estate has worked according to the principles of a protocol for mountain viticulture, which mandates the renunciation of herbicides and insecticides and relies on natural soil fertility. Since 2017, Tenuta Margon has been officially organic certified. In the cellar, the Chardonnay is fermented at controlled temperatures in stainless steel tanks, a portion of the cuvée matures in small oak barrels; the aging lasts at least eight months. Patience is considered a fundamental principle in the Lunelli philosophy — not as an advertising message, but as a craft attitude.
Chardonnay at altitude, Pinot Nero on the rock face
The range of Tenuta Margon is narrow and clearly focused. The Villa Margon Trentino Chardonnay DOC grows in estate sites directly around the Renaissance villa on the right bank of the Adige. 100% Chardonnay from stony-sandy soil at 440 to 500 meters: in the glass, it shows apple, citrus peel, and almond, supported by a lively acid structure due to the alpine climate. The wood component during aging gives texture without masking the varietal character.
The Maso Montalto Trentino Pinot Nero DOC comes from a historic family vineyard overlooked by a rock face over a thousand meters high — a site that forces the Pinot Nero into cool elegance and clear fruit, as is typical for high-altitude mountain sites. Both wines stand for what Tenuta Margon has represented since the beginnings of the Lunelli still wine era: Trentino terroir without detours, with the craftsmanship of a family in the background that has been practicing mountain viticulture for generations.
