Tenuta Venissa is a remarkable winery based in the Venice lagoon on the island of Mazzorbo. The winery is owned and run by the Bisol family (of Prosecco fame) which has pioneered the winemaking revival in the region. Gianluca Bisol was inspired to establish the winery after he discovered the last few vines of Dorona di Venezia – an indigenous white-skinned variety that was almost wiped out by the floods of 1966. Armed with these rare cuttings from a private garden, Bisol planted a vineyard on the island of Mazzorbo in the early 2000s.The wines come in bespoke, hand-blown glass bottles from the neighbouring island of Murano, labelled with individual gold-leaf designs created for each vintage.

Gianluca’s son Matteo Bisol is now in charge of the project. Volumes of all the wines are tiny, with only 5,000 bottles of Venissa Bianco made each year, and even less of Venissa Rosso.