In the early sixties Enrico Paciacconi was a master cooper. He selected timber, mainly chestnut and cherry, to produce barrels. To do this he knew wine well. Franco, Enrico’s son, planted his first vineyard in the 1980s. Even today he continues the family’s carpenter tradition but more often he is found in the vineyard and in the cellar to produce his own wine. It was up to Alessandro, the third generation, to take charge of the tradition of the Pacciaroni family and start the “bottle project” giving this step his personal imprint: to produce wines representative of the territory with an approach, in the vineyard and in the cellar, totally “natural”.

We are in an enchanted place, off the beaten track and yet a stone’s throw from the main communication arteries. We are close to Amelia, the oldest city in Umbria, and we are a stone’s throw from Lugnano, a rare place where, among other things, speaking of attention and respect for nature, the”World Collection of Olea Mundi Olives”. Here, a team of researchers cultivates and studies over 400 species of olive trees from over twenty producing countries around the world. The purpose? Learn, respect and preserve. We are on the Sandonna plateau, from which the winery takes its name, we are between the Tiber River and the hills that begin to turn into the Apennine Mountains. Here mountains rule over the river, their influence on winds and temperatures is significant, creating a microclimate with remarkable temperature variations that are particularly good for the vineyards.

Three selections of Ciliegiolo (two reds and one rosé) and an excellent Grechetto are the “business card” of the winery. In recent years the Pacaccionis have invested heavily in the development of these native varieties and especially on Ciliegiolo. Two powerful and velvety Montepulciano wines remind us that this highly versatile vine has been present in this area for many decades. And finally a great Merlot (it always feels at home in Umbria), its name is “Selve di Giove”. Organic certified vineyards (while, by choice, the cellar is not certified organic), fermentations only with indigenous yeasts, use of cement in the cellar for fermentation and refinement, limited use of oak for refinement and, above all, respect for the land and its fruits. This is Sandonna.

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