TENUTA LONETTI The Lonetti Estate is the natural landing place for a family that, after almost a century of history, has lived and lives its land with a great passion and an infinite love.When we started
For almost a century the Lonetti family, from grandfather Antonino to father Giuseppe, has always been dedicated to the cultivation of vines and olive trees. It is however in 2002 that Gaetano Lonetti takes over the management of the company launching Melissa Natura.
What is our intent
The intent of our farm is to give due recognition to the products of our land, a land kissed by the sun because of its location to the east, where the sweet colors of the mountains are intoxicated with the scents of the sea not far away, in a combination that makes these lands "Giachetta", the ideal place to enjoy nature and the products of his land. 
The farm is located just on the hill, opposite Melissa, with the ruins of its castle belonged to Count Francesco Campitelli in the seventeenth century. and the beauty of its historic center, where the air you breathe is that of a typical feudal village. Gia'.... MelissaFrom the greek Mèlissa "bee" which derives from méli "honey". The meaning is "hardworking as a bee". In Greek mythology Melissa was the nymph who made the god Apollo fall in love with her, distracting him from his work of bringing the chariot of the sun (from dawn to dusk was his race). She was punished for this and turned into a bee. Melissa means "she who gives honey," meaning "bee." But for the history, Melissa, is also the place of the battles for the conquest of the lands which gave rise to the process of allocation of land then the land reform from 1949 onwards began to give dignity to the peasants of the past not only Melissa, but throughout Calabria.THE FARM PRODUCTIONSIn this beautiful setting, on an area of five hectares, Gaetano Lonetti, after careful studies on the diversity of the land has started the diversification of farm production. Among the projects should be emphasized the fig tree, the flagship of the company, and an experimental field of white flower oregano, typical of our land of wild nature but of great fragrance and medicinal properties. The ficheto includes an area of one hectare with a planting system of five by six and about 250 plants, all of white dottato quality.
I VIGNETIOur winery has also started the restructuring of vineyards, by means of uprooting and replanting. It was therefore possible to keep the same varieties of grapes by replanting the same rootstocks: the "1737″ has always been the only rootstock suitable for this kind of soil, drought resistant, obtained by Millardet and De Grosset. This kind of rootstock has a good resistance to dryness, chlorosis, to the compactness and superficiality of the soil, with an excellent achievement of the sugar level.
THE GRAPE VARIETIES present are gaglioppo, black greek, white greek for white grapes and other lesser ones not for quality but for quantity such as zibibbo and malvasia. The project for what concerns vineyards is to make a good red wine of Denominazione di Origine Controllata DOC Melissa and a passito to be matched with the tasting of figs
GAETANO LONETTI
A passion long a life!