Ceppaiolo

Altitude | 200 metres

Soil | Dark silt generated by detritus of geological rivers

Approach | Natural, unfiltered, wild yeast, no added sulphites

Named after the Italian word for the poorest man in the village who historically only got to heat his home with the unwanted roots of a tree cut down and divided up, with the best logs and branches going to the richest - Ceppaiolo is a tiny vineyard, and like the secret garden of literary fame, it isn’t easy to find. It’s on the side of a quiet road in Umbria, on a large non-descript plain, watched over by a small neighbouring restaurant and the Apennine Mountains further on. Stepping out the car, we entered through a padlocked gate, past a stone shed (the winemaking cellar as it turns out) with graffiti on the wall, a beaten-up car and a caravan.

It couldn’t be further away from that picture postcard image of an Italian vineyard. No castle, no neat rows of vines or polished tasting room with glass doors. No, this is Umbria in the 1950s, from the expired vintage car outside the ‘cellar’ through to the small rows of native grape vines, many of them more than 70 years old, guarded on all sides by overgrown flowers and wild as can be. Winemakers Danilo Marcucci and Riccardo Pennaforti saved this two-hectare vineyard from demolition after meeting its wild, untouched vines. The cellar is kept exactly as Danilo found it with old 1950s winemaking equipment and what they have aimed to do with Ceppaiolo is to not only save the vineyard and keep making wine but maintain a small part of Umbrian history and tradition.