<p>We’ve known <a href="http://www.paolobea.com/en/1/1/home.html">Giampiero Bea from Paolo Bea</a> in <glossary title="1274">Montefalco</glossary> since the early nineties and have been fan of his wines even before that. Throughout the nineties into the aughts, we would ask “Giampiero, is there no one in <glossary title="1058">Umbria</glossary> working the way you do and making real wines?” The response was always a half-hearted pause in the guise of rumination and then a definitive “No.” We imagine his response remains the same today.</p>
<p>Over the course of time <glossary title="1274"><strong>Montefalco</strong></glossary> wines have been driven in demand in good part because of Bea’s great work and as a result there’s been a blossoming of wineries and vineyards. It was the <glossary title="429">Etna</glossary> before there was <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="429">ETNA</glossary><span>!</span></span></span> The trendy region for the in-the-know wine group. Since the late nineties, it seemed the area was taking a turn for the worse; <glossary title="977">spoofy</glossary> wines made for quantity and consistency rather than <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1026">terroir</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> But more recently, there is a swing back to less immediate, more traditional and stoic wines – the wines that actually express the work in the vineyard and the grape and soils of the region.<br />
<br />
Angelo Fongoli is the fourth generation to be making wine at the Fongoli family <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="427">estate</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Since the early 2010’s, Angelo has taken the <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> that was, of course, until the eighties a <glossary title="815">poly-cultural</glossary> farm using <glossary title="331">conventional</glossary> <glossary title="1002">systemic</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1103">viticulture</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> then moving towards an almost<strong> <glossary title="671">monocultural</glossary></strong> farm, back to a more diverse farming culture concentrating on <glossary title="160">biodynamic</glossary> techniques. The <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> is now almost 40 <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> of vines, vineyards, olive trees, forest and natural truffle production. About 20 of these <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> are now planted in traditional grape varieties of the region – <glossary title="1043">Trebbiano</glossary> Spoletino, <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="505">Grechetto</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="911">Sangiovese</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary title="681">Montepulciano</glossary> and <glossary title="1276">Sagrantino</glossary> – the oldest of which are more than 40 years old. The vines have been <glossary title="260">certified organic</glossary> by <glossary title="413">Ecocert</glossary> since 2013, and since then only the use of <glossary title="993">sulfur</glossary> and limited <glossary title="333">copper</glossary> are applied on the vines. The planting of soveccia - legumes, grains and other nitrogen-rich, complex-rooted plants that open the soil and add nutrients have also become the norm. More recently, Angelo with his wife Letizia have begun working the farm completely in <glossary title="160">biodynamic</glossary> techniques, seeking quality grapes over quantity production. They are fully satisfied with the results and now make the wines without the addition of <glossary title="993">sulfur</glossary> or any other enological products.<br />
<br />
The <glossary title="1104">vinifications</glossary> range from <glossary title="986">stainless steel</glossary> with and without <glossary title="1018">temperature control</glossary> to <glossary title="74">aging</glossary> in <glossary title="142">barrels</glossary> or <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="388">demi-muid</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> often for many years before release. They also make two wines in <glossary title="103">anfora</glossary> that are made in the nearby town of Deruta – <em>Maceratum</em> for the 100% <glossary title="1043">Trebbiano</glossary> Spoletino white and <em>Fracanton</em> for the 100% <glossary title="1276">Sagrantino</glossary> red made in the style of his grandfather and great-grandfather. There is also a 100% <glossary title="1043">Trebbiano</glossary> Spoletino metodo ancestrale <glossary title="471">frizzante</glossary> <glossary title="938">re-fermented in bottle</glossary> using reserved <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="700">must</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> There are also still red and white wines – notably some very traditional Montefalco<em> </em>Rosso, "Bicunsio", and a<strong> <glossary title="852">riserva</glossary></strong>, "Serpullo".<br />
<br />
Tasting the wines, we have to say that we think Giampiero is not entirely right. There are winemakers in <glossary title="1058">Umbria</glossary> with the dedication and respect to their vineyards, <glossary title="1026">terroir</glossary> and traditional wines. The wines that Angelo and Letizia are making are among the finest from the entire region.</p>
<p><a href="https://soundcloud.com/italianwinepodcast/ep-114-monty-waldin-interviews-angelo-fongoli-fongoli-winery">Please click here for an interesting interview with Angelo by Monty Waldin.</a></p>
<p><em><strong>November 26th, 2023:</strong></em></p>
<p>Winter had good snowfall on the mountains surrounding <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Montefalco" title="1274">Montefalco</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> with snowfall continuing until mid-April. Rainfall was not excessive but sufficient to guarantee a good water supply for the soil. We suffered <glossary term="Frost" title="1135">frost</glossary> in early April that did not damage the vineyards in the upper <glossary term="Montefalco" title="1274">Montefalco</glossary> area, but did affect areas at the bottom of the valley. The winter months passed with mild temperatures, but in the late winter and early spring (March-April), constantly low temperatures caused a delay in vegetation. This is what ultimately saved us from having major damage from the April <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Frost" title="1135">frost</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> </p>
<p>We were able to avoid <glossary term="Contact Treatment" title="328">treating</glossary> the vines until April 23rd. The green manure was planted at the end of March in the most advanced areas and the rest from April 19th onwards, spread over the remaining vineyards. The first half of May was marked with daily rainfall, at times several millimeters. Fortunately, our grass covers in the rows avoided washouts and allowed <glossary term="Contact Treatment" title="328">treatments</glossary> to be carried out without problems. The grass was also mowed with a brush cutter and mulched every day when possible to pass without compacting the soil. The green manure was completely laid by May 16th but not yet cut. In mid-May, the vegetative state maintained a delay compared to recent seasons.</p>
<p>From the beginning of May to the beginning of June, it rained practically every day, with humidity always above 70%. The <glossary term="Sangiovese" title="911">Sangiovese</glossary> began <glossary term="Flowering" title="1179">flowering</glossary> on June 2nd. At the end of May, most of the green manure is chopped and it is planted a second time, only on the whites. In June the rains continued, with some breaks compared to May, though humidity remained constantly above 70% with very rare break. Temperatures remained at 25/27 degrees at their highest. In the second half of June, <glossary term="Mildew" title="1137">downy mildew</glossary> begin to affect the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Cluster/Bunch" title="1138">bunches</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>From July 9th, temperatures began to rise steadily above 30 degrees, with humidity at just under 70%. At the beginning of July, the green manure was buried and the under rows worked on the whites. A light but constant vegetative development continued until September. In general, it felt possible to ripen a good quantity of white grapes, but the red varieties felt compromised by various maladies.</p>
<p>The quality of the grapes <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvested</glossary> was good. It was a very early <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> for us, because after picking the whites, we decided to start earlier on the reds as we decided to only produce "Rossofongoli" in 2023. It was a unique <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinification</glossary> for the red this year, one we've never done before. We started by greatly reducing the speed of the <glossary term="De-stemming" title="378">de-stemmer</glossary> to maintain the integrity of the skins as much as possible and avoid broken grapes. Once those grapes were <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">macerated</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pressing" title="827">pressed</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> a substantial amount of <glossary term="Whole-Cluster" title="1124">whole-cluster bunches</glossary> were introduced into the <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">fermenting</glossary> wine. At no point did we do a <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pigeage/Punchdown" title="795">pigeage</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> a first for us. </p>
<p>In the <span class="zalup"><span> <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> we have increasingly focused on eliminating aromatic variation caused by vegetal parts of the <span class="zalup"><span> <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">fermentation</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> In the vineyard we worked to minimize the damage from <glossary term="Mildew" title="1137">mildew</glossary>; despite the possibility of using the atomizer daily for the entire period of the growing season, it was noted that it is impossible to stop infections with only limited doses of <glossary term="Copper" title="333">copper</glossary> ( except perhaps for the <glossary term="Trebbiano Spoletino" title="1469">Trebbiano Spoleto</glossary>). Based on the experiences of recent years, the fight against extreme drought is more manageable with targeted work at the right times.</p>
<p>The winter season was characterized by regular rainfall in line with an average year. The strong jump in temperature at the beginning of spring brought a <glossary term="Frost" title="1135">frost</glossary> in the month of April. Initially underestimated, it damaged the <glossary term="Bud" title="206">buds</glossary> most of all with the <glossary term="Sangiovese" title="911">Sangiovese</glossary>; less so for the later <glossary term="Budding" title="1166">budding</glossary> varieties. During the spring there was scarse rainfall - through the summer into late September there was no rainfall of any note - a constant wind kept the humidity low. Following this trend towards extreme climatic dryness, the <glossary term="Cover Crop" title="1255">cover crops</glossary> we sowed gave a late start to the mulching and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Tilling" title="1028">tilling</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Given the lack of water in the soil, we uprooted the <glossary term="Cover Crop" title="1255">cover crops</glossary> and, as an exception, for the first time we also worked the soils of the non-cropped rows <strong>(<i>trans note</i></strong> - normally every other row is sowed with <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Nitrogen" title="719">nitrogen</glossary><span>-</span></span></span>giving and soil-opening plants and the other left bare) in Vigna della Fonte, Vigna Veterana Trebbiano, Vigna Letizia e Vigna dei Sospiri. We’d prefer to not touch the soil but we worked it to lessen the splitting of the soil and evaporation. The response of the soils to this was great - the <glossary term="Plowing" title="810">plowing</glossary> allowed the roots to seek the deeper parts where they could find some water and oxygen. The lack of water reduced the vigor of the <glossary term="Cane" title="232">canes</glossary> but it never caused the leaves to yellow. The <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> of the whites began the 3rd week of August.</p>
<p>The grapes were in very good condition and surprisingly huge; the older vines and <glossary term="Sagrantino" title="1276">Sagrantino</glossary> were <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvested</glossary> in October as usual. </p>
<p>The season ended with a big drop in overall quantity, most of all with the reds and especially <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sangiovese" title="911">Sangiovese</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> but with great quality, however. The reds have a vibrant color with no signs of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Oxidation" title="754">oxidation</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> while the whites contained their color and thanks to the earlier harvesting a low <font color="#7b143e"><b><glossary term="PH" title="783">ph</glossary></b></font><span class="zalup"><span><span>.</span></span></span> We tried to limit the <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">skin contact</glossary> both for the whites and the reds. The aroma and structure of the whites given the season are in line with the past few years, for the reds more work was done to create a ready drinking wine - "Rossofongoli" and "Bicunsio" - and for the <glossary term="Sagrantino" title="1276">Sagrantino</glossary> we need to wait a year before a definitive response, for now they are very interesting in nose and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Structure" title="990">structure</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>We’ve known <a href="http://www.paolobea.com/en/1/1/home.html">Giampiero Bea from Paolo Bea</a> in <glossary title="1274">Montefalco</glossary> since the early nineties and have been fan of his wines even before that. Throughout the nineties into the aughts, we would ask “Giampiero, is there no one in <glossary title="1058">Umbria</glossary> working the way you do and making real wines?” The response was always a half-hearted pause in the guise of rumination and then a definitive “No.” We imagine his response remains the same today.</p>
<p>Over the course of time <glossary title="1274"><strong>Montefalco</strong></glossary> wines have been driven in demand in good part because of Bea’s great work and as a result there’s been a blossoming of wineries and vineyards. It was the <glossary title="429">Etna</glossary> before there was <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="429">ETNA</glossary><span>!</span></span></span> The trendy region for the in-the-know wine group. Since the late nineties, it seemed the area was taking a turn for the worse; <glossary title="977">spoofy</glossary> wines made for quantity and consistency rather than <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1026">terroir</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> But more recently, there is a swing back to less immediate, more traditional and stoic wines – the wines that actually express the work in the vineyard and the grape and soils of the region.<br />
<br />
Angelo Fongoli is the fourth generation to be making wine at the Fongoli family <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="427">estate</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Since the early 2010’s, Angelo has taken the <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> that was, of course, until the eighties a <glossary title="815">poly-cultural</glossary> farm using <glossary title="331">conventional</glossary> <glossary title="1002">systemic</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1103">viticulture</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> then moving towards an almost<strong> <glossary title="671">monocultural</glossary></strong> farm, back to a more diverse farming culture concentrating on <glossary title="160">biodynamic</glossary> techniques. The <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> is now almost 40 <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> of vines, vineyards, olive trees, forest and natural truffle production. About 20 of these <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> are now planted in traditional grape varieties of the region – <glossary title="1043">Trebbiano</glossary> Spoletino, <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="505">Grechetto</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="911">Sangiovese</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary title="681">Montepulciano</glossary> and <glossary title="1276">Sagrantino</glossary> – the oldest of which are more than 40 years old. The vines have been <glossary title="260">certified organic</glossary> by <glossary title="413">Ecocert</glossary> since 2013, and since then only the use of <glossary title="993">sulfur</glossary> and limited <glossary title="333">copper</glossary> are applied on the vines. The planting of soveccia - legumes, grains and other nitrogen-rich, complex-rooted plants that open the soil and add nutrients have also become the norm. More recently, Angelo with his wife Letizia have begun working the farm completely in <glossary title="160">biodynamic</glossary> techniques, seeking quality grapes over quantity production. They are fully satisfied with the results and now make the wines without the addition of <glossary title="993">sulfur</glossary> or any other enological products.<br />
<br />
The <glossary title="1104">vinifications</glossary> range from <glossary title="986">stainless steel</glossary> with and without <glossary title="1018">temperature control</glossary> to <glossary title="74">aging</glossary> in <glossary title="142">barrels</glossary> or <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="388">demi-muid</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> often for many years before release. They also make two wines in <glossary title="103">anfora</glossary> that are made in the nearby town of Deruta – <em>Maceratum</em> for the 100% <glossary title="1043">Trebbiano</glossary> Spoletino white and <em>Fracanton</em> for the 100% <glossary title="1276">Sagrantino</glossary> red made in the style of his grandfather and great-grandfather. There is also a 100% <glossary title="1043">Trebbiano</glossary> Spoletino metodo ancestrale <glossary title="471">frizzante</glossary> <glossary title="938">re-fermented in bottle</glossary> using reserved <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="700">must</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> There are also still red and white wines – notably some very traditional Montefalco<em> </em>Rosso, "Bicunsio", and a<strong> <glossary title="852">riserva</glossary></strong>, "Serpullo".<br />
<br />
Tasting the wines, we have to say that we think Giampiero is not entirely right. There are winemakers in <glossary title="1058">Umbria</glossary> with the dedication and respect to their vineyards, <glossary title="1026">terroir</glossary> and traditional wines. The wines that Angelo and Letizia are making are among the finest from the entire region.</p>
<p><a href="https://soundcloud.com/italianwinepodcast/ep-114-monty-waldin-interviews-angelo-fongoli-fongoli-winery">Please click here for an interesting interview with Angelo by Monty Waldin.</a></p>
<p><em><strong>November 26th, 2023:</strong></em></p>
<p>Winter had good snowfall on the mountains surrounding <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Montefalco" title="1274">Montefalco</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> with snowfall continuing until mid-April. Rainfall was not excessive but sufficient to guarantee a good water supply for the soil. We suffered <glossary term="Frost" title="1135">frost</glossary> in early April that did not damage the vineyards in the upper <glossary term="Montefalco" title="1274">Montefalco</glossary> area, but did affect areas at the bottom of the valley. The winter months passed with mild temperatures, but in the late winter and early spring (March-April), constantly low temperatures caused a delay in vegetation. This is what ultimately saved us from having major damage from the April <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Frost" title="1135">frost</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> </p>
<p>We were able to avoid <glossary term="Contact Treatment" title="328">treating</glossary> the vines until April 23rd. The green manure was planted at the end of March in the most advanced areas and the rest from April 19th onwards, spread over the remaining vineyards. The first half of May was marked with daily rainfall, at times several millimeters. Fortunately, our grass covers in the rows avoided washouts and allowed <glossary term="Contact Treatment" title="328">treatments</glossary> to be carried out without problems. The grass was also mowed with a brush cutter and mulched every day when possible to pass without compacting the soil. The green manure was completely laid by May 16th but not yet cut. In mid-May, the vegetative state maintained a delay compared to recent seasons.</p>
<p>From the beginning of May to the beginning of June, it rained practically every day, with humidity always above 70%. The <glossary term="Sangiovese" title="911">Sangiovese</glossary> began <glossary term="Flowering" title="1179">flowering</glossary> on June 2nd. At the end of May, most of the green manure is chopped and it is planted a second time, only on the whites. In June the rains continued, with some breaks compared to May, though humidity remained constantly above 70% with very rare break. Temperatures remained at 25/27 degrees at their highest. In the second half of June, <glossary term="Mildew" title="1137">downy mildew</glossary> begin to affect the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Cluster/Bunch" title="1138">bunches</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>From July 9th, temperatures began to rise steadily above 30 degrees, with humidity at just under 70%. At the beginning of July, the green manure was buried and the under rows worked on the whites. A light but constant vegetative development continued until September. In general, it felt possible to ripen a good quantity of white grapes, but the red varieties felt compromised by various maladies.</p>
<p>The quality of the grapes <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvested</glossary> was good. It was a very early <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> for us, because after picking the whites, we decided to start earlier on the reds as we decided to only produce "Rossofongoli" in 2023. It was a unique <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinification</glossary> for the red this year, one we've never done before. We started by greatly reducing the speed of the <glossary term="De-stemming" title="378">de-stemmer</glossary> to maintain the integrity of the skins as much as possible and avoid broken grapes. Once those grapes were <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">macerated</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pressing" title="827">pressed</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> a substantial amount of <glossary term="Whole-Cluster" title="1124">whole-cluster bunches</glossary> were introduced into the <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">fermenting</glossary> wine. At no point did we do a <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pigeage/Punchdown" title="795">pigeage</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> a first for us. </p>
<p>In the <span class="zalup"><span> <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> we have increasingly focused on eliminating aromatic variation caused by vegetal parts of the <span class="zalup"><span> <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">fermentation</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> In the vineyard we worked to minimize the damage from <glossary term="Mildew" title="1137">mildew</glossary>; despite the possibility of using the atomizer daily for the entire period of the growing season, it was noted that it is impossible to stop infections with only limited doses of <glossary term="Copper" title="333">copper</glossary> ( except perhaps for the <glossary term="Trebbiano Spoletino" title="1469">Trebbiano Spoleto</glossary>). Based on the experiences of recent years, the fight against extreme drought is more manageable with targeted work at the right times.</p>
<p>The winter season was characterized by regular rainfall in line with an average year. The strong jump in temperature at the beginning of spring brought a <glossary term="Frost" title="1135">frost</glossary> in the month of April. Initially underestimated, it damaged the <glossary term="Bud" title="206">buds</glossary> most of all with the <glossary term="Sangiovese" title="911">Sangiovese</glossary>; less so for the later <glossary term="Budding" title="1166">budding</glossary> varieties. During the spring there was scarse rainfall - through the summer into late September there was no rainfall of any note - a constant wind kept the humidity low. Following this trend towards extreme climatic dryness, the <glossary term="Cover Crop" title="1255">cover crops</glossary> we sowed gave a late start to the mulching and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Tilling" title="1028">tilling</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Given the lack of water in the soil, we uprooted the <glossary term="Cover Crop" title="1255">cover crops</glossary> and, as an exception, for the first time we also worked the soils of the non-cropped rows <strong>(<i>trans note</i></strong> - normally every other row is sowed with <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Nitrogen" title="719">nitrogen</glossary><span>-</span></span></span>giving and soil-opening plants and the other left bare) in Vigna della Fonte, Vigna Veterana Trebbiano, Vigna Letizia e Vigna dei Sospiri. We’d prefer to not touch the soil but we worked it to lessen the splitting of the soil and evaporation. The response of the soils to this was great - the <glossary term="Plowing" title="810">plowing</glossary> allowed the roots to seek the deeper parts where they could find some water and oxygen. The lack of water reduced the vigor of the <glossary term="Cane" title="232">canes</glossary> but it never caused the leaves to yellow. The <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> of the whites began the 3rd week of August.</p>
<p>The grapes were in very good condition and surprisingly huge; the older vines and <glossary term="Sagrantino" title="1276">Sagrantino</glossary> were <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvested</glossary> in October as usual. </p>
<p>The season ended with a big drop in overall quantity, most of all with the reds and especially <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sangiovese" title="911">Sangiovese</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> but with great quality, however. The reds have a vibrant color with no signs of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Oxidation" title="754">oxidation</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> while the whites contained their color and thanks to the earlier harvesting a low <font color="#7b143e"><b><glossary term="PH" title="783">ph</glossary></b></font><span class="zalup"><span><span>.</span></span></span> We tried to limit the <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">skin contact</glossary> both for the whites and the reds. The aroma and structure of the whites given the season are in line with the past few years, for the reds more work was done to create a ready drinking wine - "Rossofongoli" and "Bicunsio" - and for the <glossary term="Sagrantino" title="1276">Sagrantino</glossary> we need to wait a year before a definitive response, for now they are very interesting in nose and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Structure" title="990">structure</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
