Our final day of visits started at Cantina Cenci. Felice our bus driver had his route sorted so we didn’t have the fun of seeing the same junction a few times from different directions as we had done on previous days. As the bus approached Tim warned us that the owner was somewhat shy and would need to be drawn out of himself. Of course we were greeted a booming welcome, and we were literally embraced into the world of Giovanni Cenci.
Giovanni seems very young, but I think for all of us it was his energy and enthusiasm that captivated. He immediately led us away from the old monastery surrounded by scaffolding in which he lives and makes wine and up through his four hectares of vines. His family have grown grapes on this land for generations, and sold them in bulk. Giovanni, who got involved in wine making early, recognised that quality was the way to go to make a living from wine, so trained in oenology, and then spent two years working in Bordeaux, and since his return has developed a thriving local business supplying mainly local restaurants with his wines made from Sangiovese, Merlot, Greccheto, Pinot Grigio and Trebbiano. A one man business – he is the oenologist, winemaker, marketer, salesman and presumably book-keeper!
We could believe he would be a fabulous salesman, he certainly sold us the story of the land, which he has converted to organic vine production and is scattered with wildlife refuges. Every time he replaces rows of vines he uses wooden and metal posts for the training wires as these are recyclable whereas the old concrete posts are not. About half way through a vine’s life (10-15 years) he prunes it right back to encourage growth of foliage, and vigour in the future.
Perhaps most exciting was his description of harvesting Pinot Grigio every year – a very delicate grape (mainly grown further north in Italy), which must not be harvested when it is too hot. So he harvests his entire crop in one night, with the help of forty friends and volunteers wearing head torches, and once the grapes are sorted and pressed, the party starts. Check out his Facebook page for this year’s harvest date!
Back in the very basic winery, with probably fewer barrels than we have seen anywhere else, we sampled his wines – whites from 2014, reds from 2013
- Giole Trebbiano – a light, flavoursome wine with a hint of spritz
- Alago Pinot Grigio – great fruit, lovely acidity and structure
- Antichello Grecchetto – a richer more favoursome Grecchetto than many
- Sanbiago Rosso – 80% Merlot, 20% Sangiovese – really approachable with lovely fruit and soft tannins
- Ascheria Merlot – Ascheria is the Basque name for Merlot, and Giovanni was keen to teach us that Merlot originated here rather than in Bordeaux, and is just as much an Italian grape as a French one. A full bodied wine with spicy tannins drinking beautifully
- Piantata Sangiovese – Piantata is the local name for the ecosystem of woodland and vineyard that was originally how grapes were grown in Umbria. This was a lovely wine, elegant, beautiful fruit and lovely tannic structure. And it was his last bottle – what will next week’s group do?
Cenci wines deservedly sell out every year locally – only one more expensive than €10 per bottle – but only available in Umbria! We quizzed Tim on why they aren’t exported, and learnt that a production of 20,000 bottles a year isn’t of a scale to interest any importer, and of course Giovanni has many loyal customers in his home market.
We reluctantly left the (literal) embraces of Giovanni and took a short drive to Terre Margaritelli, which is a much bigger estate – 60 hectares, entirely organic. Frederico Bibi and his American wife Jennifer have created a fantastic winery and cookery business (contact details), and were superb hosts. Frederico walked around the vineyards, which surround the hilltop building and occupy probably the best position in the DO of Torgiano. He has planted a combination of local and international varieties, and is seeking to blend these to express the very best characters of this beautiful place.
Frederico is ardently passionate about organic wine making. He was particularly proud that he has established a very large contiguous vineyard of 60 hectares as entirely organic, something that is very unusual in the region. We learnt that the grass and wild flowers growing underneath the vines,are both competitors for moisture at ground level, encouraging the vines to send their roots down deeper, but also the homes of preference for insects that might otherwise occupy the vines. Fava beans are grown between the vines and ploughed in to add nitrogen to the soil. And because of the abundance of different species of plant and animal living alongside the vines, the risk of bird attack as the grapes ripen has been much reduced by two hawks taking residence.
We tried a number of their wines with a lunch prepared by Jennifer, who met Frederico in Seattle when she was a chef and he was selling olive oil from Umbria there. All the produce was of course local, and the flavours from simple ingredients (and skilful use of herbs) were glorious.
With our crisp and refreshing DO Torgiano Bianco 2014 made from Trebbiano, Chardonnay and Fiano, and Greco di Renabianca 2013, and a surprisingly complex and rich oaked Grechetto we had courgettes which had been deep fried for seconds, and then marinated in a fresh pesto, a potato and green bean salad, and a salad of lentils, grains and mozzarella.
With the DO Torgiano Rossos from 2010 and 2011 (50% Sangiovese, 50% a mix of Canajolo, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) and the DOCG Freccia degli Scacchi 2010 (100% Sangiovese) we heard from Frederico about the idisyncracies of how the DOC system works. Only three vineyards produce DOC Torgiano, and a decision was made recently that the percentage of Sangiovese in the DOC wine should be anywhere between 20% and 70%. Which seems to fly in the face of the principle of classification in Italy (and indeed the rest of Europe) – to preserve typicality rather than strive for quality.
Luckily Frederico had chosen to strive for quality and all three wines went beautifully with the pork belly stuffed with rosemary, fennel, and other herbs). And with our cherry and custard tart we had a Merlot. Not sweet, but fruity and light bodied, with tannin so ripe you couldn’t feel it! A great match, and perfect timing – just as we finished the meal we had a five minute downpour which Frederico watched warily – much longer and the organic treatment he had given the vines the day before would be washed off and he would have to treat again.
We left Frederico and Jennifer, some of us planning to return to Jennifer’s cookery school (possibly in combination with some harvesting by head torch at Cenci), and had a restful few hours in Perugia, riding the excalators and monorail, doing last minute shopping and enjoying the café culture.
Our final dinner at La Tarverna restaurant allowed us to reminisce about this trip, and Steve, one of our experienced wine tourists, gave a lovely speech celebrating the things we enjoy about these trips: always different, always exciting, always educating – and “we get through a few bottles of wine”.