Mani di Luna Umbria Rosso 2022 1L

This wine comes in a one liter bottle. With a short maceration and no added sulfur, the idea is to recapture memories of local farm wines, sold in demijohns and bottled at home with crown caps for everyday drinking.

The grapes are destemmed by hand and gently foot trodden. Spontaneous fermentation takes place with native yeasts and no temperature control in small concrete tanks. Maceration on the skins is for six to eight days. Aged on the lees for seven to eight months.

Fattoria Mani di Luna was born in 2012 as the joint effort of three long-time friends, Simone, Rocco and Alessandro (Alessandro and Rocco played in a band together for years and Rocco and Simone were classmates in Perugia studying agronomy). Their shared love of nature and agriculture, coupled with a desire to rejuvenate the soil and vines through organic and biodynamic practices, is the driving force behind the project. The vines are certified organic, but the friends make use of biodynamic preparations, composts and adhere to the lunar cycles in viticulture and production. In their eyes, biodynamics allows for the vineyard to express itself better. The healthy grapes are imprinted with the natural rhythms of a growing season, which prepares them for “good” fermentations. This allows Simone, Rocco and Alessandro to eschew significant manipulation of the grapes in the winery.

The estate is composed of 35 hectares (7.5 planted to vine) located in Torgiano, an area of Italy that can trace its grape growing traditions to the ancient Etruscans. The property that the friends acquired has history in the region. Prior to their revival of the land, it was owned by the famed Lungarotti family. Some of the vines are planted on the flats near the confluence of the Chiascio River with the Tiber. The remainder are on the hills overlooking the winery at an altitude between 200 and 400 meters. The soil is largely composed of sand with sandstone and calcareous marl. The sandy soil is essential for maintaining low PH and high acidity even when the grapes reach higher sugar levels.

Everything is harvested by hand. Most of the grapes are destemmed by hand to better protect the integrity of the fruit. Keeping with the traditional methods, most of the grapes are foot-tread and all the wines see significant lees contact with regular bâtonnage.

Everything is done by hand with great care. Sulfur is only added if it is absolutely necessary.

-Louis/Dressner Selections