Book an Experience
2 Hours
Participants: Minimum 4, Maximum 30
About Winery and Wines
Cantina Sandonna is the realization of a dream rooted in generations of dedication to the land. Located near the medieval village of Giove, on the Colli Amerini in southern Umbria, the winery is led by Alessandro Piaciacconi, who has embraced the path set by his grandfather Enrico, a master cooper, and his father Franco, a lifelong farmer. With deep respect for tradition and the natural rhythms of the land, Alessandro produces authentic, unforced wines, reflecting his philosophy of living in harmony with nature and family—fittingly along Via della Stella Polare (North Star Road).
Founded officially in 1990, the winery has grown from a modest family project into a dynamic yet intentionally small-scale estate, cultivating nearly 9 hectares without herbicides and maintaining traditional vineyard practices like manual hoeing. The winery itself is a reflection of the Piaciacconi family: young, orderly, and full of care, focused not on scaling up, but on refining and elevating the wines that already express the soul of this land.
Cantina Sandonna is located in Selve, a micro-area on the Sandonna plateau, which gives the project its name. This area, once reclaimed for agriculture, offers ideal conditions for viticulture, thanks to the unique microclimate shaped by the Tiber River and the Apennine Mountains—fresh, ventilated, and long appreciated since ancient times.
Here, the focus is on preserving and enhancing native Umbrian varieties, in particular:
Grechetto – An ancient white grape variety offering freshness, structure, and typicity.
Ciliegiolo – A local red grape that yields wines of honest, rustic character, echoing the simplicity of the Amerino community that grows it.
Alessandro's approach favors low-intervention agriculture, with great attention to the terroir, the environment, and the stories behind each vine. His wines are as sincere and straightforward as the landscape they come from—an area rich in olive groves, grains, cheeses, meats, truffles, and heritage legumes like the Slow Food–recognized Fava Cottòra.
To visit Cantina Sandonna is to embark on a sensory journey through the authentic heart of the Amerino, a land where each glass of wine tells a story of place, memory, and the enduring connection between people and their land.