My friend Emanuela works at a rather new winery in
Todi.
On a wet winter day I decided to pay
her a visit.
She took me on a complete
winery tour which even included tasting
the 2013 Grechetto right from the
barrel.
 |
| young Grechetto |
 |
| Fresh Grechetto |
 |
inserting the batonnage instrument
Before tasting she first showed me how the batonnage was done, which was something I’ve heard about, but have never seen it done before or the instrument used to do it.
|
Batonnage is a ancient French winemaking technique, which in
short is stirring the wine inside the barrels to bring it in contact with the
lees/yeast which have rested on the bottom.
This process is done once a day by the winemaker all winter. The
instrument used to do this is a stainless steel curved bar that has a propeller
shaped piece on the end.
 |
| vineyards |
After a tour through the Agriturismo guest rooms and reading
room with a library full of cool antique books, we headed back to the main building where in the wine shop people were
buying wine in bulk.
 |
| winemaker's quarters |
 |
| antique books in the reading room of the villa |
Up in the warm tasting room, the fire was crackling away while
I tasted the 5 wines of Villa Sobrano.
 |
| tasting room |
I
had the pleasure of meeting the owner
Mr. Giovanni Palmucci, who is a very nice man.
 |
| Signore Giovanni Palmucci |
The Grechetto di Todi is aged only in
Stainless Steel tanks, I found both wines very easy to drink and
well balanced. The Donna Sabina has a
beautiful label, a drawing of the family members, done from an antique photo by
my friend Francesca.
 |
| The Donna Sabina, a fine example of oak aged Grechetto di Todi |
She also did the
Bartolomeo label which is another drawing, done on-site of the borgo of Villa
Sobrano.
 |
| lounge of the tasting room |
and the Donna Sabina has oak aging.
 |
| fine details of the Blue Room |
 |
cover of an old book in the library
|
 |
| main building which houses the wine shop & tasting room |
 |
| Blue Room of the Agriturismo |
For me the wine I enjoyed the most was the Pinot
Bianco.
 |
wine shop with vats of wine which
can be bought by the liter |
 |
| Umbria's only Pinot Bianco |
To this day, this remains only
Pinot Bianco produced in Umbria, quite unique and a wonderful example of the
varietal.
Pinot Bianco is a very
food-friendly wine so it’s a good staple to have in the fridge.
The winery also sells a white and a red by
the liter, which are very affordable and good for everyday consumption.
Here again I preferred the white over the
red.
I feel that the wines of Villa
Sobrano have great potential and I look forward to putting them on the shelves
of Vinosofia this spring.
 |
details of the ancient tile floor
in the Agriturismo |
 |
| at home, pasta with zucchini & grechetto |
