Collection: Cantina Fongoli, Umbria

Cantina Fongoli is located in Umbria, the landlocked wine region in the middle of Italy. This estate has turned biodynamic since 2010 and certified organic by Ecocert since 2013.

Unlike the deep sea sedimentary soils at Barolo or the volcanic soils at Etna, the soils at Umbria are mainly of lacustrine (lake sediment) origins. These soils derived from the gradual drying of Lake Tiberino, an ancient salt water lake formed over 10 million years ago towards the end of the Miocene epoch. You can see these deposits from satellite image even today in the form of a basin.

Fongoli let the local ancient grapes Trebbiano Spoletino and Sagrantino find their roots on this ancient salt lake landscape.

The white grape Trebbiano Spoletino is one of the highest quality grapes from the Trebbiano group. It has small berries, high acidity and aroma. It became almost extincted in the 1960s, only to be saved in early 2000s by the works of Cantina Novelli and then Paolo Bea.

The red grape Sagrantino is rich in polyphenols (多酚), and is regarded as the grape with most powerful tannin in Italy - some people just find the tannin too hard! Thanks to Fongoli's natural winemaking, their wine are given smooth, polished but persistant tannic. They offer expressive, brambly black fruit and aromatic herb aroma.