Fongoli

Fongoli was founded in the early 1900’s by Decio Fongoli on the top of the hill in S. Marco, the centre of the Montefalco wine-making area. Starting as a property made up of several farms, making wine and olive oil, his passionate son Angelo was responsible for making wines that were recognized for the DOC for Sagrantino di Montefalco in 1977.

Since the end of the 1980s until 1999, the winery was run by his nephew Decio and since 1999, by his great-nephew Angelo, both of whom follow the original approach with ageing in large oak barrels, bottling strictly in-house and vinification with indigenous yeasts using only their own grapes. Today the property covers about 35 hectares, 23 of which are vineyards, 6 woodland, and the rest truffle ground and meadows, and is managed entirely according to biodynamic principles.

Fongoli does not have standard winemaking protocols, as they vary the processes according to the colours, aromas and flavours of the must that arrives at the winery as well as the course of the individual seasons, implementing new experiments and ideas that stimulate the work of the winemaker. The grapes they grow are sangiovese, sagrantino, montepulciano, merlot, trebbiano spoletino and grechetto.

All their white and red wines are fermented in steel tanks, open vats or terracotta amphorae. The red wines they age are matured in large Slavonian oak casks for two years (for Montefalco Rosso) and up to five years for Sagrantino. No filtration or clarification is carried out, the wines are clarified naturally with racking and oxygenation following the phases of the moon.

Fongoli’s clean style caught our eye right away. The continuous quality and the transparent bottles with their cheerful labels makes them fly off the shelves.