Monte Melino, Perugia, Umbria, Italy
Wines by Riccardo Pennaforti & Danilo Marcucci
Varietals and key wines include; Sangiovese, Montepulciano, Malvasia, Grechetto, Trebbiano, Coda di Pecora, Verdello, Vernaccia Rossa, Uva Pecora, Aleatico
Perched off a quiet road in landlocked Umbria, lies this unpretentious winery home to large, mature vines and natural wines without any added sulphur or any other additives.
Winemakers Danilo Marcucci and Riccardo Pennaforti fell for this two-hectare vineyard after discovering vines over seven decades in age growing on the land.
This is not your typical heavily manicured Italian vineyard but a vestige of Umbria in the 1950s. Vintage winemaking equipment remains in service, grass grows freely, and a dilapidated Fiat is encircled by native flora. The winemakers keep the cellar exactly as they found it.
Ceppaiolo takes its name from the Italian word for the poorest man in the village who would heat his home with unwanted tree roots while the best logs and branches went to the wealthiest. This makes this simple and unpretentious producer the real deal.
Danilo refers to the vineyard as his “laboratory” for natural winemaking with the oldest vines still on the original rootstock and now more recently his “babies’ the new plantation of Trebbiano spoletino massal selection added to the vineyard. A spectrum of grape growing that produces a delicious fruit driven uniqueness to these wines.
