The wines of Leonardo Bussoletti

Today I'd like to shine a spotlight on our producer in the beautiful region of Umbria...Leonardo Bussoletti. Located in the small town of Narni, in the province of Terni, Bussoletti dedicates his life to viticulture and only makes wine from native Umbrian varieties which are Ciliegiolo di Narni, Grechetto and Trebbiano Spoletino. 

"Associazione Produttori Ciliegiolo Di Narni" founded by Bussoletti

The red variety Ciliegiolo is not easy to grow. With much determination and passion he makes 3 Ciliegiolo cuvées. '05035', the zip code of Narni, is from his young vines and is aged in steel. It is meant to be drunk young has bright ripe cherry fruit and is absolutely mouthwatering. The 'Brecciaro' does 12 months on the lees and 30% goes in 25hl large neutral french oak. Finally the 'Ramici' comes from his vines which were planted in 1985 and aged a year in large neutral oak. The wines are silky and refined with a red cherry and berry fruit profile with soft tannins. The wines match well with mushroom or black truffle dishes (Norcia, famous for black truffle is 1 hour away), any poultry, risotto and beans, pasta and spring peas, salumi and cheeses and even with delicate white fish and baccala cooked in a tasty tomato sauce.

Many of you may know the famous white wine of Umbria called Orvieto. Perhaps you did not know that the DOC allows many low quality grapes such as the work horse white grape Trebbiano Toscano to be blended with Grechetto. And producers are not obligated on stating what grape is used. This is a reason why DOC/DOCG does not always mean the best quality and therefore some of Italy's best wines are IGT! 

With that being said, Bussoletti makes two white mono varietal wines with only the best Umbrian native grapes. 'Colle Ozio', pictured above, is 50% Grechetto di Todi & 50% Grechetto di Orvieto from a 2 hectare plot, vinified seperately, blended and aged 6 months on the lees in steel. 'Colle Murello' comes from a 1 hectare plot, is 100% Trebbiano Spoletino fermented and aged in large neutral oak. They go beautifully them with shellfish, white meat dishes, soft cheeses and any other well prepared dishes. He makes a very small amount of sparkling trebbiano spoletino for personal consumption and it does not leave the vineyard. People rave about it and offer to buy as many bottles as they can when visiting.

Bussoletti is certified organic by Suolo e Salute. All of his wines are fermented spontaneously with native yeasts. His vines are grown in calcareous/clay soil producing wines with penetratingly beautiful aromas and flavors. When you taste them...you don't forget them! 

Contact me for pricing and availability.

Cordiali Saluti,

Michael Reale

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