Smoked Wine

Smoked Wine from the Upper Tiber Valley

Vinosanto from smoked grapes from the upper Tiber Valley is a sweet wine, amber in color, with distinct tertiary aromas and a very particular smoky scent.

It has a very ancient and particular history that has its roots in peasant tradition.

In the company we have always produced Vinosanto, thanks to our grandfather, Cesare, the one who passed on and transmitted to us secrets and advice to make, year after year, this wine “according to tradition”.

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Vinosanto da uve affumicate dell’alta Valle del Tevere

Vinsanto affumicato dell’alta valle del Tevere

Vinosanto from smoked grapes, today as then, is produced exclusively from white grapes, mainly Trebbianoids, but also from other vines such as Malvasia and Malfiore.

The grape harvest began in early October and the Vinosanto grapes were the first to be picked: the most beautiful bunches were selected on the plant and from there taken to the peasant houses where they were hung with cotton “coppiole” in the kitchens or attics, where they were left to dry until the end of February.

During the drying period, the grapes indirectly absorbed the smoke produced by stoves or fireplaces in the houses and thus, they were smoked in turn.

At the time of pressing, once the must was obtained after pressing, it was placed in oak barrels together with the mother for many years.

Even today, in our company, the aging of the Vinosanto from smoked grapes of the Upper Tiber Valley – Slow Food Presidium – “Cesare di Galparino” is at least 10 years.

The production method of this sweet wine, in fact, is the same for everyone in the Upper Tiber Valley: what distinguishes it are the flavors, aromas and colors that are given to it by the mother of each producing family. It is no coincidence that the mother is passed down from generation to generation and gives the Vinosanto of each family unique characteristics and aromas that distinguish them from each other.

With the aim of maintaining the tradition and this ancient agricultural-winemaking practice, Slow Food, the large association committed to safeguarding and maintaining “good, clean and fair” food has found in the Vinosanto from smoked grapes project and in the desire to maintain, safeguard and carry forward a tradition, a good project to support and back.

Even today we produce Vinosanto “as tradition dictates”. The grapes are dried in a particular environment, the Vinsantaia, a unique place where history, tradition and passion come together to continue producing this wine that few families still make.

Since 2014, Vinosanto from smoked grapes from the Upper Tiber Valley has been one of the two Slow Food presidia in the area, and one of a kind in Italy and the world!

In our own small way, we are committed to maintaining biodiversity: in our married rows, a particular type of row that in the past was used to delimit fields and plots by alternating vines with fruit trees, some Malfiore plants have been found.

This vine was on the verge of extinction, but thanks to the recognition of Vinosanto as a Slow Food Presidium, it was possible to safeguard the plant species.

This vine, in fact, has been included in the production specifications of vinosanto from smoked grapes from the Upper Tiber Valley and, thanks to this, it has been possible to include it in the protection registers and save it from endangered species.

To date, we are one of the three companies in Umbria that are custodians of the Malfiore variety.