The Ciliegiolo

Ciliegiolo is a red grape variety with limited cultivation (less than 400 hectares in the entire region), but with very interesting organoleptic qualities. The theories about its origin and presence in the region are different and conflicting: according to some studies, Ciliegiolo would have existed in the Umbrian and Tuscan valleys before 1590 - the year in which a grape variety called "ciregiuolo" is mentioned - and would even be the ancestor of Sangiovese; according to others, it would have been introduced around 1870 by pilgrims returning from Santiago de Compostela. Other historians argue that its origin is Etruscan. It is a grape variety cultivated in different areas of Italy, but it has its homeland in particular in the areas of Narni and Amelia in Umbria and in the Maremma of Tuscany, where it is expressed in a fairly different way. The wine is not excessive in muscle, tannins, and warmth; it is delicate, medium-bodied, a bit rustic in certain cases, but genuine and easy to drink, particularly appealing when vinified in steel or cement and released no later than the second year after harvest. Its great strength lies in its immediacy. It can also be aged in wood for a longer period and give different, more ambitious and demanding wines. In 1994, the Association of Ciliegiolo Producers of Narni was established to promote the grape variety.