Fabrizio Vella Bianco Organico 2020 Sicily

Ceppaiolo Ceppabianco 2020

Field blend from 80year old vines – Malvasia, Trebbiano (Trubiano), San Colombano, Uva Pecora. Spontaneous fermentation with 10days skin contact. Aged in fiberglass. No added sulfur and no filtering or fining. Lots of skin contact happening here, dry tannins, baked peaches, citrus, black tea, honey and quince.

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.