100% Cesanese. Organic, Biodynamic. A mix of different plots of 45-60 year-old Cesanese all on red clay soils at between 340-400m above sea level. ‘Vicinale’ is the flagship red wine at La Visciola. It’s the only Cesanese at the domaine made entirely in stainless steel, with at least a year of aging before bottling. Unfined, unfiltered. 

La Visciola, in Piglio in southern Lazio, is a hidden treasure. The small four hectare estate is owned and operated by vignaiolo Piero Macciocca, in tandem with his wife Rosa and daughters Cecilia and Elisia. All of the Macciocca family’s vines of Cesanese were planted in the 1960s, and they’ve been farmed organically since then, and biodynamically since 2005. There is vibrancy in the vineyards. This is a pocket of Italy where old traditions have not been forgotten. Indeed the notion of monoculture is almost laughable in this rural appellation of Piglio, which hasn’t yet fully been revealed. It’s simple stuff on the surface, but the very best part of the Macciocca family’s work is the hard-to-believe beauty of the wines.