Grapes and Geese at Cirelli

8/22/11 -

Cirelli is a working farm of about 60 acres, but only 5 acres are planted to vines. One of their specialties is raising free-range geese which yield, among other things, an incredibly delicious goose-breast prosciutto. The geese play a role in the vineyards, feeding there and thus helping a lot with pest control and weeding (and based on our experience of geese, some fertilizing too).

Francesco Cirelli came to visit us out-of-the-blue; he’d heard about the store and thought we might like his organic wines from Abbruzo. He was right: we liked the wines a lot, and we liked him, his energy and his evident devotion to organic farming and biodiversity. Given the quality of the wines it was a surprise that this is only his second vintage for the Montepulciano and the third for Trebbiano. These wines were made at a friend’s property, but Francesco has now built a new winery, and the 2010s will be made there, enabling him to use indigenous yeasts and eliminate added sulphur. That said, the current wines are not at all spoofilated – they give clean aromas, good balance with very reasonable alcohol and fresh acidities. We’re really happy to be offering a little early support to this new venture that has so much promise, and you will be very happy with these lovely wines. JW