Argillae

Overview

Estate

Argillae’s estate covers about 300 acres between the hills of Allerona and Ficulle, northwest of the city of Orvieto in Umbria.

Climate

The summers are short, hot, and mostly clear, and the winters are long, frigid, and partly cloudy. Over the year, the temperature typically varies from 32°F to 88°F.

Soil

The soil is characterized by clay and sand that, on some hilly slopes, forms the so-called “calanchi.” These are deep and wide soil splits created by atmospheric erosion approximately 2 million years ago.

Vineyards

The vineyards are about 37 acres, situated at an altitude of 500 to 1,000 feet asl, and have an East-West exposure on the sunny hills. The focus is mainly on the local grape varieties, Grechetto, Procanico, Verdello, Drupeggio, and Montepulciano, but there are also international varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Malvasia, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cultivation

The harvesting and pruning are strictly done by hand. Training systems: spurred cordon and guyot.

Winery

The cellar has been built in a style that blends with the surroundings. The wines are stored and refined on the first floor in stainless steel tanks. In the basement, the wines are aged in French oak barrels. These are located in two separate rooms: one for the whites and one for the reds, allowing the refining process to be controlled independently. Here, there are also amphoras made with the clay of the property for a special project.

Family

After creating the biggest Italian distillery, the Bonollo Spa, Giuseppe Bonollo started searching for a piece of land suited for producing high-quality wines, leading to the birth of the Argillae winery. Today, the winery is managed by a new generation of the Bonollo family: Giulia Di Cosimo, a young and passionate woman whose aim is to expand the knowledge of Umbrian wines worldwide.

Winemaker

Lorenzo Landi, born in Pisa, has been the agronomic-winemaking consultant of Argillae since 2005. He was Winemaker of the Year 2017 for Doctor Wine’s “Guida Essenziale ai Vini d’Italia 2017”.