I can remember it well, the first time we visited the Ceppaiolo "winery"...earlier in the day we had a magical meeting with our beloved friends at Collecapretta, about 45 minutes away but in an entirely different kingdom of the tiny Umbria region of central Italy.
It was late winter of 2015 and we had plans to meet one of our close friends; spirit guide and natural wine guru, Danilo Marcucci, on the outskirts of Bastia Umbra...an indistinct little village in the valley floor of the upper Tiber river delta just outside of Assisi. Danilo was excited to introduce us to his longtime childhood friend Ricardo Pennaforte, who was refurbishing his grandparents' old farmhouse.
Danilo had been exuberantly telling us about this serendipitous discovery that he and Ricardo had made when they first visited this ancestral family property: a tiny hidden garden of rare, untouched, native Umbrian old vines, planted on piedi franco (ungrafted) rootstock in the backyard of Ricardo's grandparents derelict stone farmhouse.
This place was amazing...barely 4 field stone walls cobbled together over a century ago by Ricardo's humble ancestors. There was a tiny backhoe in the front with a deep hole right in front of the "winery". We walked across some rotten 2x4's and stepped into the dank little "cantina". It was here that Ceppaiolo was born.
A "Ceppaiolo" was one of the most humble vocations back in the day of subsistence farming. The Ceppaiolo would essentially glean leftover tree stumps and other various scraps of wood from the fields of Umbria and use them to heat their homes, cook or make simple objects to sell.
Out back were four short rows of wildly overgrown, ancient vines. Less than a hectare in size, the vines held generations of antique Umbrian grape varieties in their rootstock. To Danilo it was a cornucopia of possibilities when it came to unlocking the natural wine mysteries of his beloved homeland. To Ricardo, it looked like a LOT of manual labor...
They were both right. Danilo and Ricardo got to work both envisioning the wines they'd make, tidying up the simple cantina (which didn't even have electricity for the first 2 vintages!). We of course we're lucky to be part of the origin story and heralded their first vintage (2014) of field blend wines back here in the US.
Fast forward 10 years. The Ceppaiolo cantina remains a humble refuge for both Danilo and Ricardo to tinker. The space has a fresh coat of stucco. The hole is filled in the front door. There's even a bathroom...and yes, electricity.
Yet the soul of Ceppaiolo remains intact, perhaps even more so than ever. Old farm equipment mixed with a simple table for lunch and a mini fridge to store prosciutto and young rootstock clippings.
After a full decade of dedicated work Ricardo wanted to create a couple fresh new wines from the ever evolving Ceppaiolo cantina. Wines that showed his easy-going, ever-smiling (even while pruning vines in the icy cold of winter or harvesting in the blazing heat of summer).
Vini Costa is Ricardo's Umbrian Oasis answer to the more cerebral, arthouse wines that usually come from the Ceppaiolo winery. Easy going, "simple" yet made from the same ancestral, old vine material that makes Ceppaiolo so special.
Vini Costa “Bianco” 2023 - 100% old vine malvasia (a combination of aromatic sub-varieties found in the mixed vines of Ceppaiolo) with around a week of maceration with the skins before being aged in fiberglass tank. Around 1000 bottles were made in the debut 2023 vintage. The wine is bright, sunkissed and juicy with a hallmark streak of mineral and sality to keep it grounded.
Vini Costa “Pelle Bianco” 2023 - 100% Uva Pecora, an very rare, antique variety that was mostly cultivated in small familial home gardens, never planted en-masse or truely "cultivated" for viticulture purposes. Likely a cousin of grechetto and/or pecorino, Uva Pecora is rich and soulful. Dense, round and golden thanks to 2 weeks on the skins during fermentation before aging in cement. This offers a glimpse of the magical old vines of Ceppaiolo in a wine that is approachable and soulful.
Vini Costa “Pelle Rosso” 2023 - Nearly 100% Ciliegiolo with around a week of skin maceration before being aged in cement and fiberglass tanks. Vivid ruby red with a sanguine touch of cherry (duh), iron and earth. For me this shows Ricardo's love of delicious, "easy", yet serious Umbrian wine...an ideal match for a quick backyard BBQ or salami sandwich while driving a 1950's era tractor through the rows of vines.