umbria

Umbria is in the very center of peninsular Italy, and is the only landlocked regione on the peninsula. Situated along the Appennines, it’s a region of dramatic mountains, valleys, and historic towns tucked away from much of the sweep of Italian history. Its highest point is Monte Vettore on the border with Marche at 8126ft, its lowest is at 315ft in the gently rolling plains of the Tiber valley.

Home to Perugia, Assisi (hometown of St. Francis, namesake of the late Pope), Orvieto and Spoleto.

Umbria is the historical homeland of the Umbri, a rural hillfolk who were absorbed by the expanding Romans in the third century BC, as Rome defeated the Samnites and Etruscans, then flung the Via Flaminia over the Apennines from Rome to Rimini on the Adriatic coast, establishing full control over the Umbrans and Umbria.

Perugia, unfortunately, sided with Marc Antony during the Roman Civil War (40BC) and was flattened by Octavian’s forces. The region was part of the core territory of the Roman Empire until its fall in the 5th century AD, then became a contested borderland between the Ostrogoths and Byzantines, then was absorbed by the Lombard Kingdom of northern Italy. When Charlemagne conquered the Lombards, he granted large parts of Umbria to the Pope, and the area became part of the Papal States until the Napoleonic reorganization of Italy in the early 1800’s. In the late 19th century, Umbria was absorbed into the consolidating Italian state during the Risorgimento.

lungarotti

The Lungarotti family has been cultivating vines in Umbria along the Middle Tiber since the 1700’s. The modern winery bearing the family name was founded in 1949 by Giorgio Lungarotti, a towering figure in the Umbrian wine world, pretty much single-handedly responsible for gaining recognition of Torgiano as a DOC (in 1968, the 6th DOC to be created) and Torgiano Riserva DOCG (in 1990, the 10th DOCG established).

He created the family’s flagship wine, both a brand and style, Rubesco, a blend of Sangiovese and Colorino named from the latin verb rubescere- to blush- a reference to the joy the wine brings to those who drink it.

The Lungarotti family founded the Museum of Wine in 1974, spearheaded the creation of the DOC Montefalco in 1979, the Lungarotti Foundation (dedicated to the preservation expansion and dissemination of knowledge of wine and winemaking) in 1987, and the Museum of the Olive and Olive Oil in 2000. Not bad for a family one generation off of farming.

Giorgio died in 1999, and today the estate, museums, restored historic farms and other ventures are run by his two daughters Chiara (CEO, degrees in Agriculture and Viticulture, Councillor of Federvini, and of Unione Italiana Vini, an Academic of Accademia della Vite e del Vino, an Auxiliary Academic of Accademia dei Georgofili of Florence and a member of the Board of Fondazione Perugia Musica Classica), Teresa (Marketing Director, degree in Enology, founder of Le Donne del Vino, first woman to be admitted to the Académie International du Vin in Geneva), and the mother Maria Grazia (degrees in Literature and Art History, Director of the Museo del Vino, recipient of Cavaliere di Gran Croce dell’Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana, Italy’s highest civilian award).

Under the guidance of these three formidable women and with the assistance of Teresa’s son Francesco and daughter Gemma, Lungarotti continues to be the standard-bearer of quality and innovation in central Italy.

The family owns two estates comprising of some 600 acres of vineyard in Torgiano and Montefalco. Both estates are at the forefront of sustainable viticultore, with the Montefalco estate having fully converted to organic viticulture.

The wines

Within the Torgiano estate lies a particular parcel- Il Pometo (the apple orchard), which produces lighter, fresh wines generally labelled as pure varietals. We carry two wines from this superb property:

Il Pometo Grechetto: 100% Grechetto grown on clay-rich soils of moderate fertility. Free run juice from a very gentle press, vinified in stainless after a short rest on the fine lees. Bright and floral with mineral notes, a core of exotic fruit and a touch of almond in the finish.

Il Pometo Vermentino: 100% Vermentino grown on clay-rich soils of moderate fertility. Cold macerated, then produced from the free run juice in stainless. Light resting on the fine lees before bottling. Expressive and fruit-driven with notes of melon, pear and peach.