The “Spum.e” Project has created the “Apennine Bubbles” district in Umbria

The “Apennine Bubbles” district has been created by the mountain viticulture project that is looking to the future of sparkling wine production in the heart of Umbria. The project now covers 8 hectares of vineyards located at an altitude between 850 and 1.000 meters above sea level, in the Gubbio area, which is definitely going to increase. The project in the Umbria wine region, world famous for its red wines, such as Sagrantino di Montefalco or Torgiano, and also its white wines, such as Orvieto, which focuses not only on wine, but also on a way to relaunch the mountainous part of the territory to help slow down the alarming phenomenon of depopulation. The ideas have been written down and finalized in the research project “Spum.e” (acronym for “Spumantistica eugubina”), presented recently in Gubbio. The project has laid the foundations to create the Umbrian Sparkling Wine District, which will evaluate the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the sparkling wine bases production in the Eugubino Gualdese Apennine area. The area is historically well-known for its production of quality wines, financed by the Umbria Region through PSR (rural development programs), carried out by researchers from the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Milan (under the direction of Professor Leonardo Valenti), including the collaboration of pioneering wineries such as Semonte of the Colaiacovo family, and partners such as Arnaldo Caprai, symbol of Umbrian viticulture as well as one of the top Italian wine players. The Arnaldo Caprai winery, under the guidance of Marco Caprai, saved and relaunched Sagrantino di Montefalco, and first and foremost improving the territory, and constantly relaunching innumerable production, stylistic and human challenges, as well as the participation of LEAF (a consultancy company for the wine sector).
The Umbria Region has a large arable surface area at high altitudes. More than 25% of the regional surface area is located at higher than 600 meters above sea level, and therefore it would adapt well to the new climatic and production scenarios. Due to ongoing climate changes and the consequent rise in temperatures, high altitude lands are indeed prompting greater interest, which applies to vine cultivation as well. One of the characteristics of the Eugubino mountain viticultural area is abundant rainfall (1.050 millimeters per year), which is well distributed throughout the year. The area at higher altitudes is especially excellent from a thermal point of view due to less frequent heat waves (fewer than 20 days per year, and summer temperatures above 32 degrees centigrade, compared to an average of almost 50 days in the plains areas of the Perugia viticultural area). Mild temperatures reduce water consumption of the vines, and together with optimal water availability, this guarantees that the vine is balanced throughout its development cycle. The temperatures, in other words, excessive heat conditions, are reduced, which favor therefore ideal ripening of the grapes. These conditions, over the two year span of experimentation, led to producing wines whose sensorial analysis confirmed the area’s great potential to produce sparkling wine bases. The studies of “Spum.e” started on an experimental 6 hectare vineyard planted between 2017 and 2019 with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (the two ideal vines to produce the Classic Method of sparkling wine), in San Marco di Gubbio at the Semonte farm, owned by the Colaiacovo family. The vineyard was planted at an altitude between 800 and 900 meters above sea level, on abandoned land that in the past had been used as arable land, and consequently as pastures. Researchers conducted the studies over a two year period and the results have shown that the quality of the grapes is optimal, and better than those grown at lower altitudes. The harvest time starts later than in the plains areas, while water needs are definitely lower. Modern technologies have also been installed in the vineyard to create a low environmental impact vineyard in the Apennine agro-ecosystem.
“The aim of the “Spum.e” Project”, Leonardo Valenti, agronomist and professor of the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Production, Territory, Agroenergies, at the University of Milan, who conceived the project together with Marco Caprai and Ubaldo Colaiacovo, explained, “is to analyze the effects of an innovative vineyard system to produce sparkling wine bases on the Eugubino-Gualdese Apennine strip, which is historically identified with its production of quality wines, as well as being the subject of recent quality controls on the technological suitability of sparkling wine productions. The system was managed utilizing innovative technologies (IoT) that are able to analyze the micro-climate of the vineyard and the physiological responses of the plants. The success of the project would have the effect of testing the feasibility and competitiveness of a specialized vineyard planted at new altitudes, fully respecting the Apennine ecosystem, and it would also contribute to constituting one of the first virtuous examples of the rural economy recovery in an area that is subjected to abandonment, aging and impoverishing economic activities”.
“The context of the Spum.e Project”, Gabriele Cola, also from the University of Milan, added, “was to study two vineyards in the Eugubino area, located at 430 and 800 meters above sea level, respectively. The analysis of the environmental variables in the two vineyards over the period 2013-2024, and the consequent effects of these on the vines (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir varieties) during the two-year period, 2023-2024, has emphasized that the vineyard located at the highest altitude is perfectly suited for the production of sparkling wine bases. Lower temperatures determine lower water consumption, a shift in development of the vine later in the season, ripening at a slower pace and in favorable environmental conditions, therefore, determining an optimal ratio between sugars and acidity as well as an optimal development of aromas at harvest”. According to the study, 11.3% of the Utilized Agricultural Area (UAA) in Umbria, which is suitable for vine cultivation, is located in the mountains, in fragile areas, from a socio-economic point of view, and where new investments could give new life to the rural economy. Furthermore, if we consider the areas that have been found highly suited for vine cultivation from a climatic, hydrological and pedological point of view, the share found in the mountains rises to more than 20% of the total. This means we can assume that these areas are highly suited for cultivating vines that require special conditions to produce grapes for sparkling wine. There could be a double valorization of the Apennine mountain areas: economic and social.
“The ongoing climate change further aggravates the critical issues that heroic viticulture must face. It is therefore urgent”, Paolo Tarolli, Full Professor in Agricultural Hydraulics, University of Padua, added, “to invest in research and development to find adaptation solutions and make heroic viticulture in the Mediterranean area more resilient to the ongoing climate change. The tools exist, and refer to monitoring systems that use advanced remote sensors, from remote sensing to soil sensors, in addition to strategies to optimize water storage during intense and localized rainfall (mitigating surface runoff and the resulting erosive process), and reusing the same for irrigation purposes during drought events, minimizing direct exposure to the sun during periods of extreme temperatures. In the present and future scenarios, in which extreme rainfall, droughts and heat waves will progressively intensify, the resilience of viticulture can only be achieved and maintained through a multidisciplinary approach. It is essential to carry out continuous monitoring through remote sensing, highlight temporal trends of meteorological phenomena and identify hotspots that have the greatest criticality. Artificial intelligence, for instance, could be used to develop early warning systems of imminent heat waves or droughts, to optimize irrigation efficiency, to integrate and improve monitoring systems and to support economic risk management”.
“Global climate changes are altering the traditional parameters of viticulture, making mountain areas increasingly suited to growing grapes for sparkling wine. An analysis of the climatic conditions of the Umbrian area and local socio-economic dynamics”, Chiara Mazzocchi, Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Milan, said, “during the study, identified and quantified the potentially most suited areas, thanks to a methodological approach integrating the economic, climatic and geographical data of the territory. The results have shown that some areas of the Region seem particularly suited for these new plants, even in marginal areas, through investments that could bring new life to the local economy”.
These first few hectares of vineyard, at the center of the project, which are the “cradle” of the “Apennine Sparkling Wine District”, have produced some Metodo Classico sparkling wines that have been bottled (which will debut at Vinitaly 2025), for the Agricultural Company and for the Caprai Agricultural Company. Both companies have experience in production of bottle-fermented sparkling wines. The production of Arnaldo Caprai Brut, for instance, started with a few thousand bottles and has reached over 10.000 in the space of just a few years. These quantities are destined to grow over the next few years to reach, thanks to the “Spum.e” Project, a hypothetical quota of 25.000 bottles. Semonte currently produces 5.000 bottles of its Metodo Classico and aims to reach a production of 15.000 bottles. The data (from the research for the “Spum.E” Project) could, therefore, stimulate the creation of a real sparkling wine district in Umbria as well as being a virtuous example for other Italian mountain territories.