“Today, in addition to the essential quality of the grapes, creating excellent wines requires vision, innovation and nerve.”
According to Leonardo and Luca Baccarelli, this is the winning formula for enacting a solid idea of viticulture, as a result of a detailed dialogue between the head and heart, bearing the fundamental principles of belonging, identity and character.
To achieve excellence, we at Roccafiore firmly adhere to this recipe, safe in the knowledge that continuing to question is the best guarantee of satisfaction, hence why the spirit of always experimenting and improving is continuously renewed. The idea of agricultural and environmental sustainability forms one of the elements in which to entrust in respect of a territory comprised of nature and culture, an environment inhabited by people whose indelible imprint is inscribed in the memory of the land and the people themselves.
Respect for the locations is expressed in the exaltation of the unique facets of the native vines that have been grown here for centuries. This requires commitment, technique and knowledge, resulting in the production of wines bearing an unmistakable style and identity, in which the bold choices, patience and attention are distilled. This is to underline that Roccafiore does not pursue innovation as means to an end but rather as the realisation of visions and objectives that Leonardo and Luca seek to faithfully convey in their wines.
A painstaking modulation of the landscape not as an ornamental façade but as a transparent qualitative precondition: this is the point of intersection between agriculture and the other souls of Roccafiore, in a tightly-woven lattice bearing the same forma mentis.
For Leonardo Baccarelli, savouring a glass of wine has always meant the measured enjoyment of a product rich in meaning. From the predilection for the South Tyrolean Schiava, able to combine finesse and levity, came the desire to replicate this sense of poise in Umbria. The project was started towards the end of the 1990s with the desire to realise a clear vision: bring to life a concept untied in its constituent components – the landscape, climate, vines, tradition – in a perspective that looked towards innovation as a bridge to the future, without falling into nostalgic temptations. The graduality in acting, devoid of uncertainties, has forged a business model upheld by sustainability and the development of the territory.
Luca sublimated his father’s intuition in his own desires. As a diachronic connector of will, the wine has become the fulcrum of energies that have elevated such to a growing definition of self. The decision to grow only native vines, whilst not a given at the time of planting, was the first seed of credibility. Next came the authoritativeness, converging form and substance with a gentle but firm hand. Yet, from the outset, Luca also explored an alternative typicality of the area, probing the potential through an executive cleansing without diluting its character. Imagining that which does not yet exist is always perilous but the wines created over the years testify to a coherent path, leading towards a gradual consolidation of the direction instead of seeking visibility with striking stylistic choices.
Roccafiore is a microcosm comprised of people capable of giving form to an idea as palpable as the passion by which they are fed. And in the cellar – just like in the vineyard – there is a full perception of this contagious enthusiasm.
Producing wine is an art and like any art, it requires technical expertise but also inspiration. Leonardo and his son Luca know this all too well, hence the relationship with the land that inspires them is not borne of nostalgia but of respect of and pride in their identity and the values that are found in the wines, to their great satisfaction. The philosophy of this young and ambitious company is summed up in the idea that wine is not merely a consumer product but a complex distillate of flavours, suggestions and experiences that stamp the wine with the markings of its creators. With the same strong and distinctive character, rich in nuance.
