Umbria

The only landlocked region in peninsular Italy, Umbria is a craggy, mountainous area tucked up in the Apennines behind Tuscany and Lazio. Home to the famed towns of Perugia and Assisi (of St Francis fame), the region contains two main valleys- the Umbrian Valley running roughly from Perugia to Spoleto and the Tiber Valley to the northwest. Agriculture is mostly confined to the valleys with sheep and goat-herding in the upland areas.

The region was populated by the Umbri, an Italic people first defeated by the nearby Etruscans in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, then gradually absorbed by the expanding Romans over the next few centuries. After the establishment of the Principate by Augustus, Umbria became Regio IV of Roman Italy. After the fall of the Empire, the region was incorporated the Lombard kingdom, then became part of the Papal territories stretching across Italy with various cities holding varying degrees of independence until the Papal terriroties, in turn, were absorbed into the new nation of Italy during the Risorgimento of the 1860’s.

The geology of Umbria is both complex and extremely active. The underlying Mesozic limestones of the Appennines are dissected by a series of extensional faults creating tectonic valleys (grabens) into which sedimenents have been shed off adjacent highlands. Extensional tectonics, earthquakes, landslides and river-derived erosion and sedimentation are ongoing.

The climate is Mediterranean but with more extreme diurnal and seasonal temperature variation in its higher altitudes.

cantina la madeleine

Located in the municipality of Narni in southern Umbria about two miles from the Tiber and the borders with Tuscany and Lazio, the Cantina was founded in 2008 by Massimo d’Alema (a former Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy) d’Alema and his wife Linda Giuva (a professor of archival studies at the University of Siena), who planted the land to Tannat, Cabernet Franc and Marselan, later adding Pinot Noir and Ciliegiolo to the mix.

La Madeleine drapes across a gentle hillside of clayey shallow marine lacustrine sedimentary soils overlying shelly marls. Mineral-rich and loaded with fossils, the lime and clay rich soils are rich in calcium and magnesium and retain water well. The vineyards and their plot of some 500 olive trees lay on gentle slopes between 600 and 800 ft elevation.

Massimo has retired active participation, and in 2021, Giulia, the eldest daughter of the D’Alema family, with a degree in economics and ten years of international business experience, decided to join and run the company alongside her mother, Linda.

In 2024, Linda and Giulia acquired another winery nearby Calispone, in the same valley where the original vineyards are located. The area cultivated increased from 7 to 13 hectares with the addition of new grape varieties including Vermentino, Viognier, Trebbiano Spoletino, Verdicchio, Monetpulciano, Sagrantino and Merlot.

Linda and her daughter Giulia work the land sustainably (100% solar/renewable power, rainwater capture and reuse, low-intervention farming).

the wines

We’ve started with a single wine from the estate, their Pinot Nero Rosato, named Juli after Giulia. 1 hectate of vines grown in calc-marl soil at 600 ft elevation, producing some 533 cases annuallly.

Vinification in stainless. No Malo. Bright and fresh, with classic Pinot Noir aromatics of strawberry and raspberry, touches of peach, and gentle acidity make this an elegant rose for year-round drinking.