Valdangius is an estate winery and mixed farm in the village of San Marco Montefalco in the western part of the Montefalco region of Umbria, Italy. White wines are made under the Spoleto Trebbiano Spoletino DOC. Red wines are made under the Montefalco Rosso DOC, Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG and Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG Passito.
Owner: Sandra and Danilo Antonelli (siblings). Their great-grandfather Giuseppe Cariani bought the land in the early 1900s to grow food for the family. He was succeeded by his daughter Angela (‘Angelina’) and her husband Fortunato Antonelli. The next generation was Giuseppe and Maria. They were followed in by the current incumbents and siblings, Danilo and Sandra. Danilo preferred to learn to farm from his grandfather Fortunato Antonelli rather than go to school. Danilo re-started winemaking here in 2010 (unofficially) and 2012 officially.
The name: The name Valdangius derives from ‘val’ (Italian for land, or valley), Dan for Danilo, Giu for Giuseppe and S for Sandra.
Staff: Consultant oenologist: no (2019).
Vineyards & other crops: 2018 16ha of land in total in the San Marco valley. 380m asl. 8ha of vines.
Organic certification: 2019 Not (yet) for the vines but the olive trees are certified organic.
White wines
Trebbiano Spoletino DOC, Campo di Pica: 100% Spoletino. 4,300 vines/ha. Guyot, 340 metres. Hand picked. | 2018 2,000 bottles. Hand picked. Grapes go in a cold store. Pressed. racked. Fermented on fine lees. Nice and creamy (visit, 2019).
Trebbiano Spoletino DOC, Filium: 100% Spoletino. 4,300 vines/ha. Guyot, 390 metres. Hand picked. Barrel fermented and aged. | 2016 Wild fermented in two 230-litre oak barrels. Interesting and clear creamy lemon flavours (visit, 2019).
Red wines
Montefalco Rosso DOC, Pipinella: 65% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino, 10% each Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. 6m in barrel.
Montefalco Rosso DOC: 65% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino, 10% each Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. | 2015 hand picked. Grapes are chilled to 7ºC. Destemmed. Fermented in stainless steel. Aged in 4th fill 230-litre barrels (3rd and 4th fill). Well made, nice flavours, decent tannin (visit, 2019).
Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG, Fortunato: 100% Sagrantino. Slow ferment but starting with cold grape. Slow 20-25 day ferment. 12m in barrels. No press wine is added. | 2012 15% alc. Nice and wild, good density, soft forest fruit and well grained tannins (visit, 2019). | 2013 15.0% alc. Bone dry but with sweet-tasting ripe forest floor red fruit (visit, 2019). | 2014 15.5% alc. Slightly more annual than the other wines, slight but well focused fruit (visit, 2019). | 2015 Fairly monolithic right now, but has enough fruit to cover the tannins (visit, 2019).
Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG Passito, Angelina: 2014 100% Sagrantino. Picked mid-Sept under the waning moon (see celestial cycles). 30-day ferment. 2-3 months in steel. 12m in oak barrels. 16% all + 100 g/l residual sugar. Well made (visit, 2019).
Other products: Grappa di Sagrantino. 4ha of olives (which were certified organic in 2019), from the Frantoio, Leccino and Moraiolo varieties. Single varietal olive oils were being planned (as of 2019). Also maize, wheat, forage for their own beef cows (Chianina).
Contact
Azienda Agricola Valdangius
Via Case Sparse, 84
06036 San Marco Montefalco (PG), Italy
Website: www.cantinavaldangius.it
Bibliography
Visit to the estate late afternoon Sunday 17 Feb 2019.