Italy · Terni & Amelia

società agricola Leonardo Bussoletti

An organic estate in Terni province, southern Umbria, built around the revival of Ciliegiolo, a red grape that had largely disappeared from the region. Leonardo Bussoletti farms nine hectares on clay-limestone parcels across four communes near Narni and San Gemini, working with Ciliegiolo, Grechetto and Trebbiano Spoletino under the IGT Narni designation.

The producer

Leonardo Bussoletti spent more than twenty-five years in wine before he founded his estate in 2008, and when the moment came to plant, he chose Ciliegiolo: a red variety that had nearly vanished from Umbrian viticulture, overlooked in favour of grapes with clearer market recognition. The founding was a winemaking argument more than a conservation project. Nine hectares spread across four communes in Terni province, farmed organically on clay-limestone parcels at around 290 to 300 metres, under the IGT Narni designation. Grechetto and Trebbiano Spoletino came after Ciliegiolo, and together the three grapes account for the entire range.

Fermentations are spontaneous throughout, driven by a pied de cuve built only from native grapes, with no commercial yeast added. The cellar sits on the slopes of San Gemini, built to a low environmental-impact specification. Three wines emerge from the nine hectares: Asla, a single-variety Ciliegiolo red; Mau, a blend of Grechetto and Trebbiano Spoletino aged on its lees; and Ripi, a co-planted field blend of Ciliegiolo, Merlot and Cabernet from the Penna in Teverina vineyard. The range is tight by design.

Known for

Ciliegiolo revival and single-variety expression from organically farmed clay-limestone parcels in southern Umbria, with native-only spontaneous fermentation across the range.

Notable facts

The story

The Grape Nobody Was Growing

When Leonardo Bussoletti began his wine career, Ciliegiolo was still present in Umbrian vineyards, but only just. The grape had its base in Tuscany, where it had been grown for centuries, and in Umbria it had been declining for decades, crowded out by varieties with clearer market recognition or easier cultivation. Bussoletti spent more than twenty-five years working in wine before he planted his own estate, and when the moment came to decide what to grow, he chose the grape that most people in the province had already decided was not worth growing. The founding of the estate in 2008 was a winemaking bet: that Ciliegiolo could carry a serious, individual wine from the hills around Narni, on clay-limestone soil at around 290 metres, in the hands of someone who believed it. Grechetto and Trebbiano Spoletino came later, but Ciliegiolo came first, and the whole range still follows from that initial decision to stake a claim on a grape the region had nearly forgotten.

From the atlas

Società Agricola Leonardo Bussoletti

At A Glance

LocationNarni, Terni province, southern Umbria
Founded2008
WinemakerLeonardo Bussoletti
GrapesCiliegiolo, Grechetto, Trebbiano Spoletino
DesignationIGT Narni
Vineyards9 hectares across four communes
FarmingOrganic (Suolo e Salute certified)

The Producer

Leonardo Bussoletti founded his estate in 2008 in the province of Terni, in the south of Umbria, and he runs it alone as owner, managing director and winemaker. The founding act was a grape, not a place: Ciliegiolo, a red variety that had largely disappeared from Umbrian viticulture by the time Bussoletti began working. He spent more than twenty-five years in wine before the estate existed, and when he finally planted his own flag, he planted it in a grape everyone else had mostly stopped growing.

The label designation is IGT Narni, a place-name classification without the classified hierarchy of a DOC or DOCG. That relative obscurity suits the project. Bussoletti works with Ciliegiolo, Grechetto and Trebbiano Spoletino under the IGT Narni designation.

Place

Narni and San Gemini are small hilltop communes in Terni province, set inland in the lower third of Umbria. The landscape here is quieter and less travelled than the Orvieto zone to the west or the Spoleto valley to the northeast. The nine hectares spread across four communes: Narni, San Gemini, Penna in Teverina and Attigliano. Parcels sit at around 290 metres for the Ciliegiolo and Grechetto plots, with an estate average near 300 metres.

The IGT Narni designation attaches the wine to the Narni area by name but carries no appellation hierarchy below it. There are no premier or grand cru vineyards to parse, no classified range within the designation. What the label offers is a place and a grape, which is Bussoletti's preferred frame of reference.

Soil And Site

The Ciliegiolo and Grechetto parcels grow on clay-limestone terrain at 290 metres. The limestone fraction provides drainage and a mineral base; the clay holds moisture through drier months and contributes to the body in both the red and white wines. Vines are trained to spurred cordon, the standard Umbrian system for managing yield and canopy through the growing season.

The cellar sits on the slopes of San Gemini, built specifically to work within the Narni landscape and to minimise environmental impact. The building was designed to a low-footprint specification, in keeping with the organic approach that governs the vineyards.

Story

Bussoletti began his wine career long before 2008, accumulating more than twenty-five years of experience across Italian and international wine regions. When he returned to southern Umbria to build his own estate, he chose Ciliegiolo as the starting point. The grape had a longer history in Tuscany than in Umbria, and by the late twentieth century it had become rare in the province of Terni. Bussoletti treated its revival not as a conservation project but as a winemaking argument: that Ciliegiolo could anchor a serious, distinctive wine from this part of Umbria.

The estate expanded in sequence. Grechetto came next, with Bussoletti cultivating both available clonal lines: the Orvieto clone (G109) and the Todi clone (G5), two distinct populations within the same grape. Trebbiano Spoletino, a white variety native to the Spoleto area and quite different from the more common Trebbiano Toscano, followed after Grechetto was established. Organic certification through Suolo e Salute formalised a farming philosophy already in practice. The cellar at San Gemini was built to complete the picture: a permanent home for a project that had taken more than two decades to arrive.

Vineyards And Cellar

All nine hectares are farmed organically, certified by Suolo e Salute, with only natural treatments applied in the vineyard. Bussoletti works without commercial or synthetic pesticides.

In the cellar, fermentations are spontaneous: no added yeast of any kind. Instead, Bussoletti uses a pied de cuve built exclusively from native grapes, a small portion of the harvest fermented ahead of the main batch to generate active native yeasts that then drive the primary fermentation. The commitment to native-only yeast is specific and deliberate; it keeps the fermentation character within the parameters of what the vineyard itself produces.

Ripi rests six months in stainless steel after a light filtration, then ages a further twelve months in bottle before release. Mau, the Grechetto-led white, undergoes lees ageing followed by bottle ageing. The approach across the range favours time over intervention.

Wines

The range has three wines, each with a distinct grape logic.

Asla is the single-variety Ciliegiolo red, the wine that carries the founding argument of the estate. On the nose it offers cherry, blackberry, almond and violet. On the palate the tannins are firm but well-resolved, the acidity is genuine, and the fruit stays clearly defined. It is the most direct expression of what Bussoletti set out to make: Ciliegiolo grown and vinified without complication, under an IGT label.

Mau is an 80 percent Grechetto, 20 percent Trebbiano Spoletino white wine, fermented spontaneously and aged on its lees before further bottle ageing. It carries peach and apricot alongside herbal and mineral notes, with good body, dry palate, and fresh acidity that keeps the wine from feeling heavy. The two Grechetto clones contribute differently; the Orvieto G109 and the Todi G5 are distinct in character, and Bussoletti works them separately before blending.

Ripi is a co-planted field blend from the Penna in Teverina vineyard, mixing Ciliegiolo, Merlot and Cabernet from the same parcel. Dark cherry, violet and spice on the nose; fresh acidity through the palate; a long finish. Six months in steel and twelve months in bottle give it more age on entry than Asla, and the blend adds width to the darker fruit character.

In The Glass

Across the three wines, the common thread is acidity. Bussoletti's farming and native-fermentation approach consistently produces wines with clear fruit and a live, mouth-watering acid line rather than soft, extracted weight.

Asla opens with cherry and blackberry, then violet and a faintly bitter almond edge that is typical of Ciliegiolo at its best. The tannins grip but without roughness; they give the wine shape through the mid-palate rather than drying the finish. The acidity pulls everything forward and keeps the wine feeling energetic rather than heavy.

Mau is fuller than its acidity suggests on first taste. The lees contact adds a slight creaminess beneath the peach and apricot fruit, and the herbal and mineral notes sharpen as it opens. It finishes dry and clean, with the acidity cutting through the body so the wine stays bright to the last.

Ripi is the most complex of the three. The Merlot and Cabernet add flesh and darker spice to the Ciliegiolo cherry core, and the twelve months in bottle before release knits the blend together. The finish is the longest of the range, with fruit and acidity holding the same line through to the end.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Asla. It is a single-variety Ciliegiolo red from organically farmed, clay-limestone parcels at around 290 metres, fermented with no commercial yeast, only a native pied de cuve. No blending, no barrel ageing, no complexity imported from outside the grape and the ground. Cherry, blackberry, almond and violet in the glass; firm, fine tannins; genuine acidity carrying the wine forward without sharpness. It is the grape Bussoletti built his estate around, as plainly expressed as the range allows, and it answers the question the label asks: what does Ciliegiolo taste like when someone takes it seriously in southern Umbria.

Anecdote

When Leonardo Bussoletti began his wine career, Ciliegiolo was still present in Umbrian vineyards, but barely. The grape had its base in Tuscany, where it had been grown for centuries, and in Umbria it had been declining for decades, crowded out by varieties with clearer market recognition or easier cultivation. Bussoletti spent more than twenty-five years working in wine before he planted his own estate, and when the moment came to decide what to grow, he chose the grape that most people in the province had already decided wasn't worth growing. The founding of the estate in 2008 was not a preservation exercise; it was a winemaking bet that Ciliegiolo could carry a serious, individual wine from the hills around Narni, on clay-limestone soil at around 290 metres, in the hands of someone who believed it. Grechetto and Trebbiano Spoletino came later, but Ciliegiolo came first, and the whole range still follows from that initial decision to stake a claim on a grape the region had nearly forgotten.

Final Word

Bussoletti's estate is small in scale and deliberate in scope: nine hectares, three grapes, three wines, one winemaker. The IGT Narni label is not a famous designation, and Ciliegiolo is not a famous grape. Both facts are beside the point. What Bussoletti has built over nearly two decades is a clear argument that this part of southern Umbria, on clay-limestone ground at around 300 metres, can produce wines with genuine character from varieties that the wider market had largely written off. Asla is a single-variety Ciliegiolo wine. Start there.

Sources

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