Umbria

Umbria, the ‘green heart of Italy’, is the only Italian region with neither coastline nor international border. Instead, consisting of over 16,000 hectares of vineland, Umbria is characterised by rolling hills, hilltop villages and iconic, historic towns. Think Tuscany (Umbria’s westerly neighbour), with a touch more rusticity.

Etruscans and Umbrians were the first to produce Umbrian wine, planting the first vines some 3000 years ago, initiating the cultivation of a range of grape varieties, all of which thrive on the diverse soil types offered by Umbria’s volcanic geology. Hills and mountains abound, with numerous plantings found along terraces cut into steep hillsides, providing day-to-night temperature variation – ideal for Umbrian wine producers seeking elegant minerality and aging potential - and creating a climate noted for cold, wet winters, dry summers and plentiful sunshine.

Despite its size, Umbria’s wine production places it fourteenth out of the twenty Italian wine regions. Strict rules govern yields for its highest quality red wines, at the heart of which sits the native Sagrantino grape. Grown in warmer zones, in volcanic soils of the Bevagna and Montefalco slopes, it produces spicy, rich and long-lived wines with plentiful tannins softened through modern winemaking techniques and oak aging. The production of Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG, Umbria’s most-regarded red wine, is limited, maintaining its quality through yield control and specific production processes, including twelve months in oak barrel. Sangiovese also plays a key role in Umbrian red wines, contributing fresh berry flavours –the perfect blending partner to the firmer-handed Sagrantino.

We’re proud to partner with the Adanti farm – one of the historic cellars of the Montefalco area and one of the first Umbrian wine producers to make Sagrantino wine. Now owned by the two Adanti sisters, their estate, dedicating 30 hectares to vineyards and 10 to olive groves, is committed to continuing Montefalco’s tradition for quality, placing indigenous grapes at the heart of their Umbrian red wines.