Ceppaiolo

This tiny property acts as the purest, most rudimentary "laboratory" for Danilo Marcucci's natural wine designs.  Here no compromise is taken. Given the exceedingly small scale of the property, 4 rows of vines that total less than 1 hectare, Danilo and his friend Riccardo can do things on a different wavelength...no time frames, no yielding.  The beauty of Ceppaiolo is that it displays the classic "contrasto Italiano" with clarity...plain and simple, Ceppaiolo is a dump.  Nothing more then a run down cement farm house that lies mostly in disrepair with bombed out old Fiats and farm equipment scattered around the property.  There's no electricity, no bathroom.  Just a 4 rows of some of the oldest, rarest and most 'antique' varieties of Umbrian vines, all white, that can be found in the region; trubiano (trebbiano dorato), malvasia bianca, grechetto, fumaiola (a rare variety of verdicchio), uva pecora, san colombana.  Winemaking is beyond rudimentary...no pumping, nothing more then 1 old barrel, a couple resin tanks, a cement vat and some demijohns.  Here the 'terroir' is not the soil or the altitude but the old vine material and the vision of Danilo and Riccardo, basta.