Estate

Our History

In 1969 the Dubini family bought the property "Palazzone".

In 1969 the Dubini family bought the property “Palazzone”, constructed by Cardinal Teodorico at the bidding of Pope Boniface VIII as a hostel for pilgrims on their way to Rome to celebrate the Jubilee of 1300 A.D. Today after a restoration with respect for the noble architecture, “Palazzone” is a boutique hotel with elegant suites. The hilly portion of the land adjacent to Rocca Ripesena, with its superb view of Orvieto on its majestic crag, consisted of sedimentary soil and clay.

Angelo Dubini decided to plant 25 hectares to vines of varieties that he expected would make wine of great complexity and character. In 1982 his two sons, Giovanni and Lodovico, made the first small vintage from these grapes. In1988 their vintage was sufficient to justify the construction of a winery to process all their own grapes and also to organise and begin the commercial marketing of what is now “Palazzone” wine regarded as one of the most significant labels in Umbria.

The Philosophy

Palazzone has chosen for us.

Palazzone has chosen for us. It has invested us with a responsability, with its stark beauty and the outstanding performance of which is equipped. It persuaded us that Orvieto was a challenge to overcome, a card to play in total contrast with the market and with fashion.

The vocation of the place, the history of the city and its region are the aspects that have given strength to our choices.

The family keeps our work together. We know that to live and work at Palazzone is a privilege, and this feeling becomes a certainty when things get tough.

We love the idea that the profile of a white wine from central Italy can be developed: graceful yet incisive, Mediterranean and at the same time with a closed structure.

Our conception of the wine is intimately linked to the vineyard, only from there we can get out the real satisfactions, those that remain.

The grapes from Orvieto do not have the solar expressiveness of some “easy” grapes and so their margins of improvement are not so immediate, so the work in the vineyard relies on continuity rather than miraculous choices.

We too have wanted to try the temptation of an “important” red, therefore, the Armaleo was born, which will certainly remain a beautiful experience, from which we have learned, however, that to remain attached to our territory, the indigenous grapes are the primary goal.

For this reason we will invest our energies on Sangiovese, knowing that the journey will be challenging as it is to dedicate to the Orvieto.

But being at Palazzone means facing difficult challenges, it seems the only way to reward the place we chose.

The Territory

Anyone who comes from a place other than this can not fail to be charmed by the unique and singular image of a landscape that still bears intact the architectural signs of its origin

The atoll of tufa, which dominates the landscape of Rocca Ripesena is the testimony of a tectonic turmoil and is in close harmony with the incredible likeness and tuffaceous platform that contains the city of Orvieto, both linked in a giant creative phenomenon.

The facts of this dynamic vitality are still expressed by many signs that the subsoil of this magical place sends us broughting physically to the most radical image of creation and its elements: fire and water, architects of our indissoluble creation.

The vegetation that has covered and decorated the primitive structures is the expression of a harmonious agreement with this vital power: giant oaks and chestnut trees are powerful sculptures of a huge natural “museum”.

On these gently rounded hills just the vineyards express the signs of contemporary history and the activity of man that lives these places; appear as blankets that cover the back of prehistoric animals squatting.

The grapes are golden and fragrant, and the resulting wine is the grand prize at the completion of a process and a secular complicated phenomenon that is life.

The Vineyards

Describe ina few words our vineyard is not easy even for us who know them meter by meter...

Describe in a few words our vineyards is not easy even for us who know them meter by meter, plant to plant, and that we follow for dozens of miles a year.

We should be able to accompany you, showing how the ground changes step by step, how the vines react and grow.

A puzzle is the appropriate image to make the idea of our vineyards: small areas, even very small, with different and precise characteristics that only the experience of many years and many harvests allows you to recognize and appreciate.

At Palazzone we are surrounded by vines. Planted on the hillside between the Hermitage and Rocca Ripesena a stone’s throw from Orvieto, between 210 and 340 meters. above sea level, depending on the slopes exposed to E or E-NE.

The nature of the rocks of this area is made up of clays, silts and sands; 2.5 million years ago there was a seabed which have accumulated the finer sediments transported by ancient rivers that crossed what were then the few areas emerged.

24 hectares of vineyards in the hills, in a landscape of rare beauty, cultivated with the traditional grapes of Orvieto: Procanico and Grechetto primarily, then to complete the Verdello and Malvasia grapes.

But also international varieties: Sauvignon for Muffa Nobilis and Viognier among the first to cultivate it in Italy.

And to completion of the wines produced, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon for the reds.

Experiences and renewal are in place at Palazzone because, and for this we are sure, first of all great wines are made in the vineyard.