Hello, nice to meet you.”
Devis Romanelli greets me as I approach his family home and winery.
Handsome enough to be an Italian fashion model, Mr. Romanelli is the descendant of several generations of grape growers before him.
While families with vineyards sold their grapes to the cooperative in the past, today Devis Romanelli is in charge of creating a powerful brand for the family business.
Romanelli Vineyards
The Romanelli vineyards sit in a prime position on the hills of Montefalco, in the heart of Umbria Italy.
Besides top-quality vineyards, the Romanelli family possesses olive groves (which I found to be a source of wealth and prestige in traditional Umbrian culture). The Romanelli family produces three distinct types of premium olive oil besides their wine.
This close-knit family produces organically grown grapes and olives, respecting the eco-system by encouraging owls and other necessary creatures to keep their system in balance.
Winery Projects
Mr. Romanelli began our conversation by emphasizing that two “projects” characterize their estate: Romanelli Nature and Romanelli Tourism.
Romanelli Nature is an eco-sustainability project developed to support biodiversity through things such as installations of bird boxes throughout the vineyards.
As we exited the vineyard, Mr. Romanelli spoke to me about their relatively new ‘wine-tourism’ program reflecting eco-tourism.
Romanelli Eco Tourism
It’s one thing to have a winemaker and olive oil producer tell you about their attitude toward hospitality, then read the actual voices of people who visited.
In the reviews, everyone praised the quality of the olive oil and wine, but more than that, expressed surprise and delight at the hospitality of the family. One review from 2012 said that though they stopped by without a reservation, the matriarch invited them in and gave them an excellent tasting of the winery’s products.
Before my visit, I checked out the wine tours the winery offers via a local operator, Gusto Tours Guests also expressed pleasure of their Romanelli visit on the website.
But in mentioning this to Mr. Romanelli, I discovered that he and Mark, the Gusto wine operator, had become friends and almost partners in a way. When Mr. Romanelli is busy in the vineyards, Mark gives the presentation for him.
The Romanelli Wine Tasting & Visit
Mr. Romanelli invited me inside the dining room that serves as the tasting room for guests, and possibly the dinner table for the family in the evenings. Very homey.
I enjoyed the quality of all the wines representing the typical blends of the Umbria area — Sagrantino, Sangiovese, and Merlot blends for the reds and Trebbiano for the white. I became fascinated with the most unusual wine called Le Tese.
Made from Trebbiano, this wine offered a most enjoyable aroma and flavor, like nothing I’d tasted before. Beyond its richness, I detected a “resin” like flavor nearly impossible to describe.
Then it was revealed that the name of this wine reflects its special training system, in which grape growers attach the grapevine to a tree.
The Lunch
Mr. Romanelli’s mother prepared a delicious lunch of eggs and pasta that complemented the family’s selection of wines.
Fresh bread shimmered with the family’s delicious olive oil (my favorite was labeled as spicy).
Display of the New Romanelli Labels
After the wine tasting and lunch, Mr. Romanelli showed me the new labels he created with the help of a designer. You can see a picture above. The major difference is that an easy-to-recognize icon sits above the main front label, inspired by artwork in the nearby Duomo.
This was an inspiring visit – much appreciation to the Montefalco consortium for making it possible.
