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Lungarotti winery was established in 1962 in Torgiano, in Umbria, a few miles from Perugia and Assisi; it immediately became the most important point of reference for Italian enology. Giorgio Lungarotti’s main goal was to make wine with the grapes from several family-run companies whose tradition had always been based on thorough respect for the land and its history, as well as on constant research and improvement.
Thanks to the current 620 acres of vineyards in Torgiano and Montefalco, Lungarotti winery is completely independent when it comes to its own grape production.

Over the years, the company has always been seriously committed to environmental protection, implementing thorough eco-friendly viticulture. The best quality of grapes is, therefore, obtained without stressing or boosting the plants and the soil – at the same time, the surrounding environment is protected by avoiding any herbicides or artificial fertilizers.

During the growing season, only light tillage is carried out to eliminate any infesting vegetation: that is very important, in order to allow the roots to go deep into the soil – looking for water and nutrients while strengthening up the plants when it comes to drought.

For over 15 years, Lungarotti has implemented several agro-environmental farming techniques by the European Community. The company has also installed several weather stations in the five “micro areas” of its cultivations. Climate parameters are thus constantly monitored and processed, including air and soil temperature, air and soil humidity, windiness, rain, solar radiation, and leaf wetness. All that information helps to minimize artificial interventions and treatments.

In the Montefalco Estate, where the vineyards are merged and very close to the winery, at some point it was decided to switch to organic farming exclusively – after the three-year “conversion period”, Lungarotti winery has been officially certified as “100% organic” since 2014.

The company’s eco-friendly philosophy has also allowed making major improvements to the very wine cellar, especially when it comes to very sensible management of CO2 emissions.

The training system mainly used is the “double spurred cordon” for red grapes, while some of the white varieties require the “double guyot”.

In addition to the short winter pruning, which leaves 3-5 buds for the red grapes and 6 for the white ones, great importance is also given to “green” pruning, usually carried out in the spring-summer period. To fully understand those evolved practices, we should bear in mind that the removal of buds, shoots, leaves and clusters during the vegetative phase has a very positive influence on the very vine growth.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)