Not out of nostalgia.
But to recognize ourselves

ORIGINS

A name that sheds light on our roots

The story begins in 1890, when Nicola Illuminati founded his first winery in Ripatransone, on the border between the Marche and Abruzzo regions.
He named it “Fattoria Nicò”. This marked the beginning of our winery, but, as the opening lines of the biography of our ancestor Pacifico Illuminati state, the family’s character existed long before that time.
This is borne out by our surname, an ancient patronymic meaning ‘enlightened by faith’, and confirmed by our coat of arms: a crescent moon and a candle.
These archaic heraldic figures symbolise wisdom, devotion and resolve. Symbols that we rediscovered, almost by chance, scattered amongst old heirlooms whose origins are lost in time.
In the past, in the village they called us grastielle, in the local dialect, ‘those who unite’. Members of the Illuminati family were regarded as wise people, to whom one would turn to find balance amidst conflicts. Just like wine, which has always brought people together around a table.

Controguerra:
a chosen land
for the love of wine

Those clay-rich hills, between the Gran Sasso and the sea

In 1960, Dino Illuminati, Nicola’s grandson, left Ripatransone to move to the other side of the mountain, to Controguerra, in Abruzzo.
The hills of Teramo, with their microclimate tempered by the Adriatic and sheltered by the Gran Sasso, spoke his own language.
He bought a farmhouse and five hectares of land in an area called Zanna, an ancient place-name that recalls the wolves which still howl at the moon in these woods. The very same moon that illuminates our family coat of arms. This is more than just a symbolic detail: it reminds us of our connection with nature and our respect for its balance – values that we bring to the vineyard every day.
That farmhouse is still our headquarters today. Those five hectares form the core of our current 110 hectares of vineyards.

Today, “we walk
on the shoulders of giants”

Five generations separate the Nicola Illuminati of the late nineteenth century from the Nicola Illuminati of today, the latest to join the business: the same name, more than a century apart, and in between, everything that is passed down when a family truly loves its calling. For us, wine is not just a trade: it is a philosophy, a way of working in harmony with the land, an idea that is refined from father to son, from one choice to the next. Nicola, Lorenzo, then Dino, and today Stefano with his brother Lorenzo and his son Nicola. Each has inherited something and added something of their own. We are the ones who are enlightened: a team of people who tend these vineyards every day, carrying on a method forged over 150 years of experimentation – a method that preserves tradition whilst continuing to evolve over time.

La Luperia:
a family treasure trove

Inside the farmhouse that served as the winery’s first premises is a space designed by Dino Illuminati to welcome guests. “Here we eat like wolves,” he used to say.

That is what Luperia called it.
Today, this space continues to host tastings and social gatherings, but above all it preserves the family’s memories: mementoes, historic labels, documents and photographs spanning five generations. It is here that our history becomes an experience to be shared.

From America to the East:
the international success
of Illuminati wines

Dino was one of the first wine entrepreneurs in Abruzzo to look beyond the region’s borders. He did so with the same courage with which he had chosen Controguerra. In Luperia’s boxes and albums, amongst letters and newspaper cuttings, there are traces of this long history.

1977
London: official dinner at the Palace of Westminster

A shipment held up in England turns into an unexpected opportunity.  Giordano Limited samples the Illuminati wines and decides to include them on the menu for an official dinner at the Palace of Westminster, attended by Queen Elizabeth.

1982
Miami: Sophia Loren and the New York Times

As she left a restaurant, Sophia Loren told journalists that her favourite wine was an Illuminati. Dino sent her a complimentary bottle, and she replied with a letter. The New York Times published an article about the wine chosen by the actress.

The 1990s
Letters from famous people

Luciano Pavarotti wrote to Dino to thank him for the quality of the Illuminati wines. Pippo Baudo: “For restoring, through his wine, my appreciation of the genuine things that no longer exist.” Bruno Vespa recounts taking the Lumen to a dinner party, where it received nothing but compliments.

1999
Texas: Dino is awarded honorary citizenship

Dino is awarded honorary citizenship of Texas. George W. Bush, then governor, attends the ceremony. Barbara Bush says she is a great admirer of Zanna.

2000
Rome: an interview with the President of Ecuador

In an interview in Rome, Ecuadorian President Noboa stated that one of the things he admires most about Italy – and, in particular, the Abruzzo region – is its Illuminati wines. This led to the establishment of a correspondence with the Ecuadorian Embassy.