Moma Est! Est! Est!

About the Wine

Monti della Moma is a modest yet exciting new venture coming out of the Est! Est! Est! DOCG of Montefiascone, a commune in the Lazio region of Italy about an hour and a half north of Rome. The unusual name stems from an urban (or rather, rural) legend – in which a wealthy 12th century traveler sent a scout ahead along the route to identify inns that had good wine. The scout was to write “Est!” on the inns who made the cut. The story goes that the scout was so impressed with the quality of the wines in Montefiascone that he wrote it not once, but three times on the walls of the village inn: “Est! Est! Est!” The vineyards of the Monti family are planted in the volcanic soils around the southeastern end of Lake Bolsena. The three varieties of the DOCG – Trebbiano Toscano (known locally as Procanico), Trebbiano Giallo (local name Rosetto), and Malvasia are blended to produce the Moma, in stainless steel with indigenous yeast fermentation. Elisa and Valentina Monti are twin sisters born in the late 1980s not so long after these vineyards were planted. They grew up here, absorbing their love of the land from those that came before them. Monti della Moma is a story of tradition honored through younger eyes. The new generation aims to change the reputation of this appellation, which historically was known more for volume than quantity. Monti della Moma's production is just a few hundred cases!