Plants Talk to Each Other

The story of Maria Ernesta Berucci begins in the gorgeous Hernican town of Piglio, in the province of Frosinone, Lazio — about an hour southeast of Rome, at the foot of the Apennine mountains. Vines have always been in her father's family, the Massimi Berucci. At one time, her father Manfredi owned as much as 30 hectares of vineyards. Manfredi was the head of the Cantina Cooperativa di Piglio from the early 1960s until 1972, and in 2004 he created a new entity called Emme, transferring almost all of the family vines to this group — with one exception: a beautiful 1.5-hectare vineyard of more than 50-year-old vines, grown in pergola adjacent to their home in the countryside of Colli Santi, the "holy hills."

In 2009, Maria Ernesta and her brother decided it was time to revive the family's roots. They produced a wine from the Colli Santi vineyard called "L'Onda" — The Wave — a name that announced the next wave of winemakers in the Massimi family. Slowly, they began recuperating some of the family's historic parcels and renting other quality sites. Maria Ernesta was particularly drawn to old vines of Cesanese d'Affile, a biotype of Cesanese that produces a noticeably smaller, less compact bunch than the more common Cesanese Comune, and yields wines of higher quality and more distinctive character.

The Cesanese del Piglio DOC was conferred in 1973 and is considered one of the legendary grapes of central Italy — capable of making very tasty, long-lived, and versatile wines. It was elevated to DOCG status more recently, a recognition of its quality and the dedication of producers like Maria Ernesta. The Massimi Berucci family also runs an agriturismo in the heart of Piglio's medieval old city, where Maria's mother — who is from Montenegro — serves as chef, and her father, a true country poet and raconteur, entertains guests with stories of local history, folklore, and the vines. His knowledge of the area and its viticultural history is remarkable, a living archive of Ciociarian tradition.

In 2014, Maria Ernesta extended the company by adding a further hectare of land with two vineyards planted in the 1960s in Casalotto and Grotte. That same year, she performed her first harvest completely from pruning to bottling — a difficult vintage, but passion and stubbornness brought good results. In 2015, she met Geminiano Montecchi, and together they committed to a shared vision: a resilient agro-ecosystem capable of coping with pests, diseases, and climatic stress without external products, producing healthy grapes to make into pure, natural wine. In 2018, they renovated the historic Massimi Berucci winery — closed since 1983 — creating a modern space where artisanal practices meet a process of vinification and refinement held in diverse materials: raw concrete, amphorae, and large wood. Their daughter Elena was born, representing the next generation of this living tradition.

At Maria Ernesta Berucci, the cellar philosophy is an extension of the vineyard philosophy: if the plants are allowed to communicate and defend themselves, the wine must be allowed to express itself without interference. All fermentations are spontaneous with native yeasts. No selected yeasts, no adjuvants, no sulphites, no enzymes, no fining agents, no filtration. The winery — renovated in 2018 from the historic Massimi Berucci cellar closed since 1983 — combines artisanal practices with a process of vinification and refinement held in diverse materials: raw concrete, amphorae, and large wood. This enables Maria Ernesta and Geminiano to express different identities and nuances of the terroir in each wine. The result is pure, unadulterated Ciociaria — alive, evolving, and unmistakably honest.

The techniques are demanding, intuitive, and deeply respectful of tradition:

Harvest & Selection: All grapes are meticulously hand-harvested, with the vineyard work done entirely on foot. Maria Ernesta and Geminiano monitor the phenological growth of the vines closely, tasting berries daily in the weeks leading up to harvest. Because they work with old vines in pergola, harvest is slow, manual, and selective — only the healthiest, ripest bunches are chosen. The difficult vintages teach as much as the easy ones; passion and stubbornness bring good results even in challenging years.

"L'Onda" — The Flagship Cesanese del Piglio DOCG: Named after the wave that announced the new generation of the Massimi family, L'Onda is Maria Ernesta's purest expression of Cesanese del Piglio. Made from the 50+ year-old vines of Colli Santi, it is aged for 18 months in neutral barriques and then further in bottle before release. Only about 1,300 bottles are produced annually. The wine is dark, spicy, and complex — black pepper, wild blackberry, dried herbs, and a mineral backbone that speaks of the limestone beneath the vineyard. It is a bigger style of Cesanese, with moderate tannin and the structure to age for years. The label features a watercolor sketch by family friend Antonietta Raphael Mafai, created for an exhibit curated by Manfredi in the early 1970s — art and wine intertwined across generations.

"Raphaël" — The Rosso del Frusinate: A blend of the two local strains of Cesanese — Cesanese Comune and Cesanese d'Affile — from the vineyards of Grotte and Casalotto. Vinified and aged for eight months in Slavonian oak barrels, it is also bottled as IGT Rosso del Frusinate. The Raphaël line includes both red and white expressions: the red is fresh, fruity, and approachable, while the white "Passerina del Frusinate" is a blend of 70% Passerina and 30% Trebbiano, produced with very short skin contact in stainless steel, native yeast, zero sulfur, and unfiltered. The labels for both Bianco and Rosso feature the same Raphael Mafai watercolors — a visual signature of the estate's artistic heritage.

"Mola da Piedi" — The Foot-Trodden Cesanese: In 2015, Maria Ernesta produced a foot-trodden, open-vat fermentation of Cesanese from an exceptional parcel of old vines reached only by footpath — hence its name, "Mola da Piedi" (Mill by Foot). The grapes were crushed by foot in open vats, fermented with indigenous yeasts, and aged in glass demijohns in the old tradition. Only 180 bottles were made. This is the most radical, most traditional wine in the portfolio — a return to pre-industrial winemaking, where human touch replaces machinery, and time replaces technology. The wine is ethereal, delicate, and profound — proof that Cesanese can achieve greatness with the most ancient of methods.

"Rifermentato" — The Sparkling Passerina: A frizzante wine made from Passerina grapes from the Colli Basso vineyard in Serrone. Fermented with native yeasts and bottled with a natural refermentation, it is a sparkling wine of extraordinary purity — no dosage, no additives, only the natural effervescence of the grape. Fresh, floral, and mineral, it represents the lighter, more playful side of Maria Ernesta's philosophy.

Whites — Passerina & Trebbiano: The white wines are made with the same non-interventionist approach. The Passerina del Frusinate IGT is a blend of 70% Passerina and 30% Trebbiano, with very short skin contact in stainless steel tanks. Fermentation is spontaneous, with zero sulfur added, and the wine is bottled unfiltered. The result is a white wine of crunchy freshness, floral aromatics, and mineral depth — a wine that drinks beautifully young but can also develop complexity with short ageing.

Monitoring & Quality Control: Beyond routine chemical analysis of musts, Maria Ernesta and Geminiano monitor the evolution of their work with qualitative analyses such as soil and wine chromatography. Capillary dynamolysis allows them to assess the degree of vitality and nutritional value of their wines — a holistic approach to quality that goes far beyond standard laboratory metrics. The goal is not to hit numbers, but to ensure that every wine carries the life force of the vineyard.