Coenobium Ruscum 2019

We are excited to have the legendary natural wines of the Sisters of the Cistercian order of Vitorchiano, who live and work at their monastery ninety minutes or so north of Rome in the Lazio region. Here at this quiet religious outpost, eighty women of this religious order work vineyards and orchards and gardens simply and organically. Under the guidance of Giampiero Bea, they produce two wines as honest and sympathetic and gracious as they are. The vineyards are planted to four local white grape varieties: Malvasia, Verdicchio, Grechetto and Trebbiano. Working simply and almost without technology in a region rife with highly controlled, highly sulfured concoctions, these are wines of real character, unadorned expressions of healthy grapes grown in a volcanic-soiled terroir. These wines are produced in tiny quantities and are mostly sold in the US and Japan.