Umani Ronchi was founded in 1957 in Cupramontana by Gino Umani Ronchi as a small farm. Since 1968 Roberto Bianchi and Massimo Bernetti have run the estate and its brand, and the company is still family run. The cellar is in Osimo, in the Marche.
They farm 210 hectares, all of it organic. The main grapes are Verdicchio, Montepulciano del Conero, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and Pecorino. In 2001 they bought 30 hectares of organic vineyards in Abruzzo, which is how the two Montepulciano wines and Pecorino sit alongside the Marche Verdicchio. Giacomo Mattioli coordinates the winemaking team.
The Osimo cellar was renovated in 2000, the same year the La Bottaia barrel cellar was designed to hold 500 barriques. PELAGO, made with the consultant Giacomo Tachis, won the International Wine Challenge in London in 1994.
Not tasted yet
I haven't reviewed a wine from Umani Ronchi yet. They're on my Top 100 list, which is built from awards.