From May 1 to 5, 2026, the Sanctuary of Lourdes hosted the 68th International Pilgrimage of the Order of Malta. 7,500 people from 44 countries, 1,300 sick and vulnerable assisted, 450 doctors and healthcare workers. An annual gathering that has taken place every year since 1958, when it was established to mark the centenary of the Apparitions.
Terre dei Cavalieri was there with a dedicated stand presenting its wines, alongside the Magistral Post Office and the Holy Family Hospital of Bethlehem Foundation. Not as a sponsor, not as an outside guest — as part of the project. Because Terre dei Cavalieri is not simply a wine brand with a connection to the Order of Malta. The estates that produce these wines belong to the Order. That’s a fact, not a marketing claim.
What is Terre dei Cavalieri
Terre dei Cavalieri is a wine project bringing together several historic estates across multiple Italian regions under one name. The three main estates — Rocca Bernarda in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Castello di Magione in Umbria and Villa Giustiniani in Veneto — are owned by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Management is carried out by Sagrivit S.r.l., a company operating on behalf of the Order in the agricultural and vinicultural development of these territories.
This is not a commercial operation built around a name. These are estates with a real history — in some cases centuries old — that have been producing wine for decades or longer. Rocca Bernarda has been documented as a wine-producing estate since 1559. Castello di Magione was founded in the 12th century as a hospice for pilgrims travelling to Rome and Jerusalem. Villa Giustiniani sits on the hills of Asolo, in the heart of the Prosecco Superiore DOCG denomination.
Why Terre dei Cavalieri wines were at Lourdes
The Lourdes pilgrimage is the moment when the Order’s community comes together. Knights, dames, volunteers, clergy, medical staff — all gathered around the original mission: caring for the sick and the most vulnerable. The pilgrimage was led by Grand Master Fra’ John T. Dunlap, accompanied by Grand Commander Fra’ Emmanuel Rousseau, Grand Chancellor Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo, Grand Hospitaller Josef D. Blotz and Receiver of the Common Treasure Fra’ Francis Vassallo.
In this context, the presence of Terre dei Cavalieri carries a specific meaning. The wines from the Order’s estates are not just another product brought to just another event. They are the tangible result of a stewardship that transforms the Order’s land holdings into something alive: wine, work, territory, community. Bringing them to Lourdes means showing the Order’s community what grows from its own land.
The stand featured wines from all three estates. From Friuli, the Rocca Bernarda labels: Ribolla Gialla, Sauvignon Blanc, Friulano, Pinot Grigio, and Picolit DOCG — one of Italy’s rarest dessert wines, awarded Best Sweet Wine in Italy by Gambero Rosso. From Umbria, the Castello di Magione wines: Grechetto, Pinot Nero and Magistrale, a red blend aged in tonneaux. From Veneto, the Asolo Prosecco Superiore DOCG from Villa Giustiniani, made using the Charmat method from Glera grapes grown on the Montello hills.
The bond between wine and the Order of Malta
The Order of Malta is a subject of international law with nearly a thousand years of history. Founded in Jerusalem in the 11th century with the mission of assisting sick pilgrims, it now operates in over 120 countries through healthcare, social and humanitarian projects. Its agricultural estates are a lesser-known but very real part of the Order’s heritage in Italy.
This bond is not a biographical footnote to tuck at the bottom of a brochure. It is the element that sets Terre dei Cavalieri apart from any other producer. No other winery in Italy can say it makes wine in a 12th-century castle that once served as a pilgrim hospice, or in a Friulian estate documented since 1559 under the stewardship of the same chivalric order.
The octagonal cross — the symbol of the Order of Malta — appears on Terre dei Cavalieri labels. Not as a decorative element, but as a mark of belonging. The eight points of the cross represent the eight Beatitudes and the eight langues into which the Order was organised. Finding that symbol on a bottle of Ribolla Gialla or Grechetto means finding a thread that connects the wine to the history of the place where it was born.
The estates: where the wines are born
Rocca Bernarda is located in Ipplis, in the Colli Orientali del Friuli, at an altitude of 130 to 200 metres. The soils are ponca — marl and sandstone — typical of the area and ideal for grape varieties such as Ribolla Gialla, Friulano, Sauvignon and Picolit. The estate has been producing wine for nearly five centuries. The narrative theme behind its labels is tied to the naval history of the Order of Malta in the Mediterranean: brigantines, trade routes, ship logs.
Castello di Magione stands near Lake Trasimeno in Umbria. Its walls witnessed the Conspiracy of Magione in 1502, documented by Machiavelli. The wines carry names linked to Maltese places and figures: Rinella, Vittoriosa, Nero Cavalieri. The flagship, Magistrale, is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese aged in tonneaux.
Villa Giustiniani lies between Nervesa della Battaglia and Giavera del Montello, on the hills of Asolo in Veneto. Here, Asolo Prosecco Superiore DOCG is produced in both Extra Dry and Brut versions, from Glera grapes trained on Guyot and Sylvoz systems. The landscape — vineyards, rolling hills, the 16th-century villa in the background — is the true protagonist of this estate.
From vineyard to pilgrimage
The 68th Lourdes Pilgrimage welcomed delegations from 44 countries. From Europe to South America, from Asia to Australia, and even Lebanon — present despite the ongoing conflict, with the special participation of First Lady Nehmat Aoun. Among the central moments of the programme, the Holy Mass at the Grotto celebrated by Cardinal Patron Gianfranco Ghirlanda S.J. and the International Pontifical Mass presided over by Cardinal Arthur Roche.
In the middle of all this, a stand with bottles of wine. It might seem like a minor detail. But those wines come from land the Order has looked after for centuries. And the fact that they were there, at Lourdes, among knights in capes and volunteers, says something simple: Terre dei Cavalieri is not a brand leaning on a story. It is the story itself, producing wine.
