Roccafiore. Grechetto 'Fiorfiore'

Umbria Grechetto IGT
Grape: Grechetto

White peach and floral fruit, candied lemon, and almond aromas. Piercing freshness on the palate, sure footed white peach and fresh pea flavours, fine sinew and lightly spiced, white pepper finish. 13%

Roccafiore producer page

Grechetto di Todi is an excellent variety that has been neglected for many years, fortunately a small group of winemakers are changing the world’s view and with 3 glasses from the Gambero Rosso and the ‘Top Wine’ accolade from Slow Wine the Fiorfiore 2018 is the flagbearer for this unfashionable grape type.

The Fiorfiore is from a single vineyard, planted in 1990 on an east/ southeast slope, where the soils have a high proportion of chalk in light clay topsoils, over limestone. The vines are Guyot trained at 6500 vines per hectare, each vines yields an average of 1.25kg of fruit. The vineyard is a slight anomaly, being apart from, and bought separately to the rest of Roccafiore. This was necessity to make ambitious wine, while waiting for the newly planted vineyards to mature.

The methodology behind the Fiorfiore has evolved over the years, the grapes are picked by hand at the end of September, then destemmed using a remarkable machine that can remove the seeds as well as the stems. The grapes are pressed and the unfermented juice, cooled and settled out naturally for a day before a temperature-controlled fermentation in steel tanks and amphora using wild yeasts. The wine is then aged in amphora and Slavonian botte grande (large barrels) for 12 months, malolactic conversion is discouraged. The wine is assembled, then bottled and held for at least six months in Roccafiore’s cellar before being released.