Roccafiore

When I first agreed to meet Luca Baccarelli at Vinitaly a couple of years ago, it was initially out of respect for the mutual friend that introduced us on the stand. It didn’t take long though for the infectious nature of this young winemaker, born and bred in Todi, and his impeccable wines predominantly crafted with the indigenous Grechetto Bianco to completely shatter my other- wise lukewarm perception of the wines of Umbria. The region’s not only about Sagrantino, as it turns out…

Having started the estate in the early 2000’s, Luca’s father Leonardo began with a vision to nurture wines of true sustainability, using the local varieties to achieve what he believed was a true sense of the microclimate of Todi. Since then and now with Luca at the helm, the winery is completely self sustaining and one of the few wineries with Umbria’s (ridiculously named) ‘Green Heart Quality’ certification for zero emissions companies. Though the estate expands around 90ha, the wines come from small plantings totalling 15ha in the centre of Roccafiore’s organic farm.

Grechetto, named after its Greek origins and no relation to Greco di Tufo, is a variety effectively only cultivated in Umbria and until very recently only planted with any significance to produce Orvieto DOC white wines. Thanks to the efforts of the Baccarelli family and a small group of Todi’s winemaking fraternity, we think it’s got a future as a characterful and delicious expression of Umbria’s Southern quarter