Remo Bartolomei grew up surrounded by the vineyards of Tuscia, the ancient Etruscan heartland straddling the provinces of Viterbo and Rieti in northern Lazio. His entry into winemaking came through friendship rather than formal training — a close bond with the three winemakers behind Il Vinco, whose estate sits on the southern slopes of volcanic Lake Bolsena, the same terrain Remo would eventually farm himself. He launched La Regina del Quartuccio in 2020, naming the project for the affectionate nickname his family had long used for his mother.
Backstory
The project is young but deeply personal. Remo sources fruit from vineyards cultivated by his Il Vinco collaborators on the volcanic soils south of Lake Bolsena, in a community of like-minded growers that includes Le Coste, Andrea Occhipinti, and others who have put this remote corner of Lazio on the natural wine map. The official company name — La Regina del Quartuccio di Bartolomei Remo — reflects the solo, artisanal scale of the operation.
The Region
Lake Bolsena is a large volcanic lake in northern Lazio, and the vineyards on its southern slopes sit at around 300 meters elevation on rich volcanic soils. The terrain produces wines of striking minerality and grip — a function of the basalt and tuff beneath the surface, the altitude, and the diurnal temperature swings typical of inland central Italy.
Vineyards and Farming
The vines farmed for La Regina del Quartuccio are 50 to 60 years old and cultivated without synthetic chemicals, with all work done by hand. The vineyards are managed sustainably under the guidance of the Il Vinco team. Grapes are harvested manually.
Winemaking
For the white and orange wines, grapes undergo maceration on the skins in cement — five days for the estRemo orange wine — before pressing and a six-month maturation in fiberglass. No sulfites are added. The red Mannajacane follows a similar low-intervention approach. All wines are intended as honest, drinkable expressions of their volcanic terroir.
The Wines
The portfolio includes estRemo (Trebbiano Toscano, Rossetto, and Malvasia Puntinata del Lazio — a skin-contact orange wine with gold color tending toward amber, aromas of broom, citrus, apricots, and hazelnut), Mannajacane (red), Pielle (rosé), Don't Worry Be Natural, and Superremo. The wines carry no DOC appellation but drink with a directness that recalls older tavern traditions.
