Conestabile della Staffa

“No chemistry in the vineyard, no technology in the cellar, only natural wine”, perfectly sums up the approach of Danilo Marcucci, the estate’s master winemaker and oeno-artisan. Conestabile della Staffa is his wife Alessandra’s vineyard, descended from a noble lineage that has owned hundreds of hectares of land since an arranged marriage in the 1700s. At its peak, the estate comprised 100 hectares of vines and produced around 10,000 hectolitres of wine per vintage. Following the Second World War and the ensuing rural exodus, which led to a severe shortage of manpower, the estate stopped producing vintages and simply sold its grapes to the local cooperative between 1956 and 2015. Danielo’s arrival at the estate changed everything. Having grown up in Umbria, he is a great believer in traditional viticultural practices that let the land express itself naturally, the better to reveal all the complexity and richness of its personality. He decided to replant 12 hectares of vines, using native grape varieties such as grechetto, trebbiano, ciliegiolo sangiovese, gamay del trasimeno canaiolo and sagrantino. In 2015, the estate produced its first vintage in 60 years. Inspired by the great Italian masters of natural wine, Danielo is now considered a leader of the natural wine movement in Umbria. Proudly rooted in his land and its traditions, he embodies the essence of Umbrian renewal. Tasting his extraordinary wines will allow you to discover and fall under the spell of Danielo’s natural and passionate viticulture.