Since 2006, Cantine Neri has been active in national and international markets. Management is familiar: Enrico's father deals with the vineyard, Enrico vinifies in the new cellar, today equipped to accommodate one third of the best grapes.
It's the simplicity of their being featuring a boutique production of about 50,000 bottles a year, made up of white, red wines and a smaller percentage of the much-appreciated Muffa Nobile that gives us a world-famous dessert wine.
Cantine Neri
When in the 1950's the family bought about 42 hectares of land, the vineyard and olive trees populated the hill, outlining a rhythmic and contoured landscape. For years they have been giving quality grapes to other wineries.
In the mid-2000s, with the entry into the company of his son Enrico, he decided to vinify part of the varieties produced. This is what emerged today as a symbol of Orvietan territory: a company projected on the quality and exaltation of local varieties, for thousands of years present in Umbrian territory.
In 1982 his son Giovanni produced the first vintage from these grapes and in 1988 with the construction of a new wine-cellar he began the commercialization of what is now “Palazzone”, regarded as one of the most significant labels in Umbria.
With Giovanni's son Pietro joining the family business, the winery has now reached the third generation.
Palazzone
In 1969 the Dubini family bought the property “Palazzone”, constructed by Cardinal Teodorico at the bidding of Pope Boniface VIII around 1300 A.D. The hilly portion of the land adjacent to Rocca Ripesena, with its superb view of Orvieto on its majestic crag, is composed of sedimentary soil and clay.
Angelo Dubini decided to plant 25 hectares of varieties that he expected would make wines of great complexity and character.
At the time the age-old vines were still grown using a system inherited from the Etruscans: they hung high above the ground, “married” to the trees that supported them. Sergio Mottura replaced this ancient system with specialized modern vineyards which now cover 36 hectares, and every year new vines are planted, ensuring a continuously high level of quality.
The choice of grape varieties has focused on the indigenous grapes that have always been grown here, clones of which have been selected on the basis of their quality and their inherited resistance to disease – particularly important because our wine is 100% organic..
Sergio Mottura
The Mottura estate occupies 130 hectares in an area rich in natural resources, bordered to the west by the gentle hills and clay canyons of Civitella d’Agliano, and to the east by the Tiber valley stretching into Umbria.
Wine has been made here for centuries: a document dating from 1292 in the Orvieto city archives names these hills as being among the very best for the production of Orvieto wine. Close to both Rome and Florence, but untouched by any large-scale urbanization, it is an area that still possesses an unsullied and breathtaking natural beauty, dotted with woods, lakes and streams.
The estate has belonged to the Mottura family since 1933 and the family has always sought to preserve and conserve its rich natural heritage. At the beginning of the 1960s the estate underwent a dramatic modernization with the move from the old sharecropping system to direct management. Given that vines have always prospered in the volcanic soil on these gently sloping hills, it was decided that the area’s tradition of viticulture offered the key to making optimum use of all that the land has to offer.
This legacy was the only technique used up until 70 years ago, when it was progressively backed up by increasingly modern technologies in perfecting conditions that were already available 2500 years ago.
Many of the aging cellars that are still being used on the estate today were originally built in those ancient times.
Le Velette
Presenting and describing Tenuta Le Velette is telling the story of a place where man has lived and left his mark for centuries, growing grapes and making wine.
The tales that can be told about the stages in the story of the estate can still be read in the places, objects, and structures that we can almost define as the setting of a history lasting 3000 years, in which wine has played a cultural, religious, diet, recreational and economic role.
The Tenuta Le Velette area was part of the region where the Etruscans developed their knowledge, their well-being and their skills, and with them, their ability to use the volcanic land to create deep cellars with temperatures that are perfect for the fermentation and storage of white wines.
In 2007 we expanded this ancient part by building a modern fermentation cellar that houses all the equipment necessary for producing wines that can rival those of the highest standards of international quality.
Leon is responsible for the entire production process. He works closely together with Paolo Peira, a Roman enologist, who earned his qualification at the Faculté d’Œnologie de Bordeaux. Ruta, Leon’s partner is a sommelier and together they provide unforgettable moments for wine-lovers from all over the world who visit our winery for wine tastings paired with artisanal local specialties.
Madonna del Latte
The ancient estate of Madonna del Latte is located in the hills between Orvieto and Lake Bolsena. Today it is a small family-owned winery founded in 2000 by Manuela Zardo and Hellmuth Zwecker. After travelling all over Italy as food and wine writers, they found the ideal location in Umbria to start producing their very own wine. The vines flourish on the slopes of rich, sandy volcanic soil at an altitude of 450 meters, where they optimally absorb the benefits of abundant sun and ventilation.
Our wines are certified organic. We produce wines with profound respect for the environment. Thus, we do not use herbicides, synthetic fertilizers or insecticides. For us, this is essential. Our vineyards are located in an environmentally protected area in close vicinity to a mineral water source.
As early as the sixteenth century, Pope Paul III himself already appreciated the land's suitability for grape growing and winemaking.
He highly regarded the red wines produced in this region as “the most perfect for both summer and winter“ and often had vast quantities brought to Rome.Our spectacular barrel cellar, which was dug into the volcanic tuff in ancient times, was most likely an Etruscan tomb. The cellar’s temperature and humidity offer ideal conditions for the French oak barrels we use for aging our wine.
We don't want to dictate rules or doctrines,
what we want is to share our principles on culture,
because wine represents civilisation.
ORV
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