Familia Traversa

Carlos Domingo Traversa and his parents arrived in Uruguay from Italy in 1904. He spent his youth as a vineyard worker and, in 1937, he and his wife María Josefa Salort were able to purchase five hectares of land in Montevideo. In 1956, he founded Familia Traversa winery, aided by his children Dante, Luis and Armando who, along with their own children, proudly keep Carlos’s dream alive today. María Josefa’s surname appears on the family’s Viña Salort wines.

It’s a highly engaged family business, with family members running the maintenance of existing vineyards, new plantings, the winemaking, bottling and distribution processes, marketing, and customer service.

The vineyards lie at Cuchilla Pereira, in Montevideo, and at Paso Cuello, across the boundary in Canelones. In Uruguay a cuchilla – literally a knife – is a low, rolling ridge, and these gentle slopes drain well and keep air moving through the vines. Some of the Sauvignon Blanc grows just 15 kilometres from the sea.

Familia Traversa is constantly striving to be environmentally friendly, and to build on its sustainable production methods. Since 2014, the winery has used photovoltaic panels to generate energy from a renewable source. As part of its sustainability policy, it also creates grape waste compost, which is used back in the vineyard to minimise the use of inorganic fertilisers.

To decrease soil erosion and nutrient loss, as well as to increase the presence of beneficial insects and microorganisms, the entirety of its vineyards use natural plant covers and species planted between the rows of vines. Familia Traversa has joined the Integrated Viticulture Production Programme led by Uruguay’s National Institute of Viticulture (INAVI) and National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIA), and since 2022 its harvest has been Sustainable Viticulture Certified.