Di Filippo Villa Conversino Rosso 2024
£12.45
The wine
A fruity red blend bursting with red berried fruit and appealing tobacco undertones. Beautifully balanced, with juicy fruit on the palate and a velvety smooth finish. Organically farmed in the hills of Umbria.
Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon from biodynamically farmed vineyards at Cannara, between Assisi and Montefalco. The estate keeps geese among the vines to control weeds and insects, and grazes sheep through the rows in winter, which removes the need for herbicides and much of the machinery.
The producer
Di Filippo
View all Di Filippo winesDi Filippo farm at Cannara in Umbria, between Assisi and Montefalco, and have been organic since 1994 and biodynamic since 2009. The family have grown grapes here since the 1930s.
The estate is best known for two things beyond the wine. Geese are kept among the vines to control weeds and insects, and a flock of sheep grazes the rows through winter, which removes the need for herbicides and much of the need for machinery. It sounds like a gimmick and is not: the practice is old, and the reduction in soil compaction is measurable.
Umbria is landlocked, green and hilly, and its grapes are its own. Grechetto is the region's principal white and gives a nutty, structured wine quite unlike Trebbiano; Trebbiano Spoletino, from around Spoleto, is unrelated to ordinary Trebbiano despite the name and is far more interesting, with real acidity and the capacity to age.
