About the winery
The Falesco Winery, owned by the brothers Riccardo and Renzo Cotarella, both oenologists and deeply rooted in this territory between Lazio and Umbria regions, was established in Montefi ascone (Lazio, Viterbo province) in 1979.
Retrieving historical vines was considered of paramount importance among the initial goals. As a matter of fact this territory had been famous for centuries for its outstanding wines, which were the privilege of the Roman aristocracy and the Popes, yet, in recent years, it had almost sunk into oblivion. Therefore it took several years of painstaking research and selections before old clones, which had almost been considered extinct, could be isolated along with extremely delicate microvarieties with their matchless aroma and organoleptic value that were lost with the planting of specialized vineyards in the 1960s. Beside retrieving vines, we have tried to spot areas with a marked viticultural vocation in which the exposure and the peculiar composition of the soils could result in very high quality products. The area occupied by the Poggio dei Gelsi vineyard, at 400 metres above sea level with a south west exposure looking towards the Bolsena lake, was one of these. Here the oldest and rarest local varietals of white grapes had survived , among others the Roscetto, whose calling for great wines was well known locally. This varietal, as from studies on DNA by Professor Attilio Scienza, comes from the family of the grape called Greco.
At the same time we built and equipped a modern cellar where the use of state-of-the-art technologies for the fermentation allowed us to enhance the aromas and taste of local selections.
It is only ten years later, in 1989, that we started producing Est! Est!! Est!!! Poggio dei Gelsi , a wine that, in a few years’ time, has managed to give prestige to a territory that had long been unjustly forgotten.
Starting from vintage 1998, therefore after quite a few years’ experience and research into the intriguing Roscetto variety, we have produced Ferentano a wine which thoroughly expresses the potential and the richness of these grapes. Another outstanding result was achieved with a red wine. This time the selected variety was a Merlot clone.
Born with the 1993 vintage, Montiano has been acclaimed since the beginning as one of the greatest and most innovative Italian red wines, being conspicuous for its elegance, precious aromatic make-up and its great concentration and structure.
Furthermore, with vintage 2001, we thought, it would be worthwhile making the most of another variety which has been linked to the Lake Bolsena area for ages . In fact Pomele is achieved from the Aleatico grape variety which is grown in the homonymous estate and which is best known for its typical aroma, freshness and agreeability.
Recently Falesco has enriched its property with the acquisition of the Marciliano estate, of 260 hectares, which is situated on a wonderful hill south of Orvieto in the municipality of Montecchio. In these vineyards we grow the Merlot, Cabernet and Sangiovese grapes for the production of Vitiano and Merlot dell’Umbria, but also Vermentino and Verdicchio to achieve the Vitiano Bianco.
Marciliano is made with the wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the best vineyard in the estate. This wine bearing the same name as the estate expresses best the great potential of these lands. In a joint effort with Tuscia University in Viterbo we have planted an experimental vineyard in the same area with 32 different varietals ranging from Nero D’Avola to Primitivo, from Melbec to Tannat and again from Carmènere to Montepulciano and Teroldego. We fi rmly believe in this territory and we want to verify the possible adaptability of more varieties to the peculiar pedo-climatic conditions of the Marciliano area.
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