Maria Ernesta Berucci ‘Raphael’ Cesanese del Piglio 2022

$35.00

Location: Italy, Lazio

Winemaker: Maria Ernesta Berucci 

Grapes: Cesanese di Affile 

Winemaking: Organic farming. Spontaneous fermentation, with a percentage of carbonic maceration that varies according to the years, and maturation in bare and vitrified concrete. No yeasts, enzymes or any other adjuvant for the vinification and maturation of the wine have been added. Clarifying decantings were carried out according to the phases of the moon. After eight months it is bottled and ages in the bottle for three to six months depending on the year.  The wine is not filtered before being bottled and for this reason it may show a light natural deposit at the bottom of the bottle after some time.

From the Importer Louis/Dressner: Maria Ernesta Berucci is a young woman from the gorgeous Hernican town of Piglio,about an hour southeast of Rome at the foot of the Apennine mountains. Vines have always been in her father's family, the Massimi Berucci, and at one time her father Manfredi owned as much as 30 hectares.Manfredi was the head of the Cantina Cooperativa di Piglio from the early 1960's up until 1972. In 2004, he created a new entity called Emme and almost all of the family vines transferred to this group with the exception of a beautiful, 1.5 hectare vineyard of more than 50-year-old vines, grown in pergola adjacent to their home in the countryside of Colli Santi (holy hills).

In 2009, Maria and her brother decided it was time to revive the family's roots and produced a wine from this vineyard site called "l'Onda" (the wave) as it announced the next wave of winemakers in the Massimi family. Slowly they have been recuperating some of the family's historic parcels and renting other quality sites. Berucci is looking especially for old vinesplanted in Cesanese di affile, a strainwhich produces a noticeably smaller, less compact bunches than the vine known as Cesanese Commune. They now are working 2.5 hectares of vines. 

The Berrucis also run an agriturismo in the heart of Piglio's medieval old city. Maria's mother, who is from Montenegro, is the chef and her food is delicious. Her father, a true country poet and raconteur, entertains guests with stories of local history, folklore and the vines. His knowledge of the area and it's viticultural history is remarkable. 

The Cesanese del Piglo DOC was conferred in 1973 and it is considered one of the legendary grapes of central Italy, capable of making very tasty, long-lived and versatile wines. It was elevated to DOCGstatus more recently. The soils in the delineated area are rocky limestone with a good deal of clay. Most vineyards are on gently rising hilltops. And most all the old vines are trained in pergola.

Maria, with the help of her fiancé Giminiano Montecchi, is converting all the vineyards to organics and together they are practicing an agro-homeopathy akin to biodynamics.The purpose is to allow the vines to ward off any maladies themselves. They had been using space at the local cooperative to vinify the wines, but have since constructed their own winery. 

The white "Passerina del Frusinate" is a blend of 70% Passerina and 30% Trebbiano,and is produced with a very short skin contact in stainless tanks, native yeast, zero sulfur and unfiltered. 

The Rosso is a blend of the two local strains of the indigenous Cesanese grape previously mentioned, both vinified and aged eight months in Slavonian oakbarrels. It is also bottled as IGT Rosso del Frusinate. The label art for the Bianco and Rosso feature watercolor sketches of family friend Antonietta Raphael Mafai, who created them for a exhibit curated by Manfredi in the early 1970's. 

"L'Onda" is Maria Ernesta's Cesanese del Piglio DOCG. It it aged for 18 months in neutral barriques and then agedfurther in bottle before release. About 1300 bottles are produced anually.

In 2015, a foot-trodden, open-vatfermentation of Cesanese, "Mola da Piedi", came from an exceptional parcel of old vines that is reached only by footpath, hence its name. It was aged in glass demijohns in the old tradition. Only 180 bottles were made!

Location: Italy, Lazio

Winemaker: Maria Ernesta Berucci 

Grapes: Cesanese di Affile 

Winemaking: Organic farming. Spontaneous fermentation, with a percentage of carbonic maceration that varies according to the years, and maturation in bare and vitrified concrete. No yeasts, enzymes or any other adjuvant for the vinification and maturation of the wine have been added. Clarifying decantings were carried out according to the phases of the moon. After eight months it is bottled and ages in the bottle for three to six months depending on the year.  The wine is not filtered before being bottled and for this reason it may show a light natural deposit at the bottom of the bottle after some time.

From the Importer Louis/Dressner: Maria Ernesta Berucci is a young woman from the gorgeous Hernican town of Piglio,about an hour southeast of Rome at the foot of the Apennine mountains. Vines have always been in her father's family, the Massimi Berucci, and at one time her father Manfredi owned as much as 30 hectares.Manfredi was the head of the Cantina Cooperativa di Piglio from the early 1960's up until 1972. In 2004, he created a new entity called Emme and almost all of the family vines transferred to this group with the exception of a beautiful, 1.5 hectare vineyard of more than 50-year-old vines, grown in pergola adjacent to their home in the countryside of Colli Santi (holy hills).

In 2009, Maria and her brother decided it was time to revive the family's roots and produced a wine from this vineyard site called "l'Onda" (the wave) as it announced the next wave of winemakers in the Massimi family. Slowly they have been recuperating some of the family's historic parcels and renting other quality sites. Berucci is looking especially for old vinesplanted in Cesanese di affile, a strainwhich produces a noticeably smaller, less compact bunches than the vine known as Cesanese Commune. They now are working 2.5 hectares of vines. 

The Berrucis also run an agriturismo in the heart of Piglio's medieval old city. Maria's mother, who is from Montenegro, is the chef and her food is delicious. Her father, a true country poet and raconteur, entertains guests with stories of local history, folklore and the vines. His knowledge of the area and it's viticultural history is remarkable. 

The Cesanese del Piglo DOC was conferred in 1973 and it is considered one of the legendary grapes of central Italy, capable of making very tasty, long-lived and versatile wines. It was elevated to DOCGstatus more recently. The soils in the delineated area are rocky limestone with a good deal of clay. Most vineyards are on gently rising hilltops. And most all the old vines are trained in pergola.

Maria, with the help of her fiancé Giminiano Montecchi, is converting all the vineyards to organics and together they are practicing an agro-homeopathy akin to biodynamics.The purpose is to allow the vines to ward off any maladies themselves. They had been using space at the local cooperative to vinify the wines, but have since constructed their own winery. 

The white "Passerina del Frusinate" is a blend of 70% Passerina and 30% Trebbiano,and is produced with a very short skin contact in stainless tanks, native yeast, zero sulfur and unfiltered. 

The Rosso is a blend of the two local strains of the indigenous Cesanese grape previously mentioned, both vinified and aged eight months in Slavonian oakbarrels. It is also bottled as IGT Rosso del Frusinate. The label art for the Bianco and Rosso feature watercolor sketches of family friend Antonietta Raphael Mafai, who created them for a exhibit curated by Manfredi in the early 1970's. 

"L'Onda" is Maria Ernesta's Cesanese del Piglio DOCG. It it aged for 18 months in neutral barriques and then agedfurther in bottle before release. About 1300 bottles are produced anually.

In 2015, a foot-trodden, open-vatfermentation of Cesanese, "Mola da Piedi", came from an exceptional parcel of old vines that is reached only by footpath, hence its name. It was aged in glass demijohns in the old tradition. Only 180 bottles were made!