Damiano Ciolli, Lazio, Italy
Olevano Romano.
BRIGHT STAR SOUTH OF ROME:
DAMIANO CIOLLI
The overriding element of our motivating creed to discover new wines is perfectly stated in our borrowed T.S. Eliot phrase "we shall not cease from exploration" from his "Four Quartets." While this doesn't necessarily make us different, special, better or worse, it directs a great deal of our wine efforts. We've learned while many good wines are available here, others are not. Seeking high-quality, value-oriented wines of originality, and working to introduce them at our shop helps us enjoy our work even more.
Our recent 3400 mile Italy trek included exploring the DOC of Olevano Romano. About two hours southeast of Rome, it is one of Lazio's two most distinguished wine zones. Motoring across that ever-sloping terrain offered a local vinous hit parade of hill towns from Anagni to Frosinone to Paliano, leading to arguably the greatest wine area of Lazio; the remarkable hill town of Olevano Romano itself. Olevano's special for lots of reasons, but the magnet for us is it is home to the youthful, energetic and talented winemaker Damiano Ciolli. Damiano works exclusively with the indigenous red grape Cesanese. Through his work, Cesanese is raised to heights never before reached, and his is certainly one of Italy's finest value red wines. It's not hard to look ahead and see prices for the best of these wines going up quickly, and still holding great cache with lovers of fine wine.
Damiano is near Frosinone - below and to the right of the O in Lazio.
HEARD OF DAMIANO CIOLLI?
He only produces 1200 cases a year...
HEARD OF CESANESE?
If not, you will!
Are you part of the prolific "what the heck is Cesanese Club?" You can drop out now! Cesanese d'Affile- a red grape- is the great wine secret of Lazio. Regionally, Lazio stretches from Tuscany's southern edge down past Rome to Campania. Lazio's perimeter rubs shoulders with Umbria, the Marches, Molise and Abruzzo.
We've had a few intriguing Cesanese bottles over the last two decades - none great, yet good enough with inside knowledge to inspire us to take the time to explore the area's of greatest potential. Over the years. we’ve now made five or six visits across Lazio and wonderful wines have emerged - more are forthcoming!
All about the soil - some of Damiano’s rich red volcanic terroir.
MEETING A RESTLESSLY DEDICATED CESANESE MASTER
Most trips have their ups and downs. Every trip to Olevano Romano has at least one BIG up - and if you leave- one BIG down. I did them both, twice. Once because I arrived early for my appointment - not easy to do with winery travel in Italy - and took a "spin" to look around the old town, and then once again because I ending up being late, after getting lost, after arriving early. This a benefit of cutting edge GPS technology (possibly), and the sometime occurrence of a sign for a place facing one direction on a road but not the other. Finally arriving, I met the cheerful and concerned Damiano. As we began - always with that "who is this guy from Oregon" thing - we did the best first thing to do: got in the standard old and beat-up winery car (some rubble, multiple cds, the plastic bottles here and there, worn out foot mats... you know...) and headed to the vineyards!
Damiano is always working.
It was a toss up whether my Italian was worse than his English, so his translator friend was indeed welcome. While walking the healthy-looking Cesanese rows, Damiano is constantly manicuring, picking off leaves, reworking the shoots and pointing out various aspects of the soil. His look of concern turns to bright smile when the translator tells him I've noted several of the best winemakers I've met do exactly what he is doing as we walk- they're always actively engaged in their work. It's no surprise to learn he prefers being in his vineyards than pretty much any place else. You would like him.
The Olevano Romano ground fit the ancients well. For example, the Roman Pliny- a writer and a Naturalist (and seasoned wine drinker)- referred to this very land as well known for rich wines. Along the timeline of history, a good long string of Popes specifically called for the old Cesanese wines made there in soil deeply settled of volcanic activity. Damiano's is a small family estate at just under nine acres; only about half is vineyard land. He is the family's third generation to farm grapes. It was not until 2001, after studying "other things", that Damiano began to make wine and picking up from the family whose work goes back to 1951. He makes it clear he wants to stay focused and small- "it allows me to keep control of everything myself." Damiano's production is minimalist: around twelve-hundred cases a year from a few acres of prime Cesanese terroir.
Working exclusively with Lazio's signature grape, Cesanese (a favorite of Popes for centuries), Damiano and his wife, Letiza (a rockstar viticulturist), produce just 1200 cases of truly artisanally made wine. Team E&R have tasted with the duo many times at their winery which was originally established by Damiano's father. There are just two wines (now) produced by Ciolli and both are exemplary and delicious testaments to Damiano's dedication that began twenty years ago when his neighbors thought he was crazy for dropping yields and ditching herbicides and pesticides. His commitment to the place- his place within this place- is why these wines are the foremost representatives of all the wines made in Lazio.
Damiano’s two reds are Silene and Cirsium…
The air of the Silene red is all smoothness, fineness and finesse- yet its back-end harnesses a subtle power and length. If you gulp it, you'll not be impressed all that much, but if you sip and swirl and let the wine range around and across all parts of your palate, the taste buds light up and please you. Another way to portray amiably missing the boat is similar to the considering of Robert Frost's poem "Dust of Snow": a simple thing, or maybe not?
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
Hmmm. Well Damiano's "Silene" (one of seven hundred flower types) beguiles. Unlike nearly every Cesanese we've tasted over the years, Damiano's features a lightish red-hued tint. It's medium-bodied. These days often at 13%, Silene fits the lower alcohol category, while bringing on a draught of spice on the finish. For non-poetry fans disconsolate with crows or snow or dust and Frost; Silene is more late Brahms than anytime Stravinsky. This wine encourages you to think, and when you do, it grabs your attention in a way you'll appreciate. The wine and winemaking reward patience and a willingness to accept subtlety along with the ability to transport the taster.
(E)
Click on each wine for more detail.