Azienda Agricola Palazzo Tronconi: biodynamic wines from Lazio’s recovered native vines

Big news in Natural Vine! We are happy to announce that soon the incredible wines produced by Azienda Agricola Biodinamica Palazzo Tronconi will be part of our natural selection.

In April, Ettore returned to Italy for a special mission: he met Eng. Marco Marrocco for a visit to the biodynamic vineyards of the Azienda Agricola Palazzo Tronconi and, of course, for a special taste of the incredible traditional wines produced in the lands of Arce, Lazio, where the company is based.

Biodynamic wines from Lazio unique native vines

It didn’t take long for Ettore to realize that the Palazzo Tronconi Farm, run by Marco Marrocco, is a very, very special place: a little corner of Paradise where contemporary agriculture and traditional wine making meet, creating truly unique products.

And behind every special place, there is a special person. In this case it is called Marco Marrocco and is the owner of the farm. Marrocco comes from a family of farmers whose roots date back no less than 400 years; from his ancestors, he got for sure the love for nature, and his strong perseverance as well.

During the 60s, his grandfather sold the family lands and moved to Rome to be a railway worker. Nevertheless, Marco never forgot the life in the family lands, among vineyards and crops, and made of his memories a life choice: after a degree in Engineering he continued his studies and got a second degree in Agriculture.

In 2010, Eng. Morrocco bought back the lands of his ancestors and decided to continue the family tradition by farming them; but he didn’t stop there: his work went further when he choose to recover some of the traditional native vines typical of the area. In his vineyard, called Sant’Eleuterio in honour of the patron saint of Arce, Eng. Marrocco grows not only vines, but history: they are called Lecinano, Maturano nero and Maturano bianco, Pampanaro and Capolongo, and they give life to wines that are unique in the world.

The biodynamic choice

The question arises spontaneously: surely, to buy back the family lands and start over with the farming wasn’t easy; biodynamic agriculture is a complex, long process, and at the beginning it is more expensive than other ways. Why this peculiar choice?

Eng. Marrocco’s explanation is pretty interesting and, in our opinion, it encloses the very core of the contrast between tradition and “progress” in wine making: Marco grew up watching his grandfather through all the steps of traditional wine making and growth of other earthly products, and he remembers all of this very well. However, during his Agriculture studies at the University, he had the impression that those very techniques, which he has seen successfully used in front of his eyes during his childhood, were considered not effective and some others, less natural, were preferred instead. He realized that there’s something wrong in contemporary agriculture and, with his own forces, he decided to continue the farming method that in his memory was healthy, true and natural. The biodynamic philosophy is the one that most closely resembles the traditional methods that for 400 year Eng. Marrocco’s family used.

The Palazzo Tronconi farm, in a pure biodynamic philosophy, is self-sustaining and it produces everything necessary for the farming of the crops and some other products as well as wine, such as natural oil and honey.

Product diversification and typical wines

At the University, Marrocco explains, they teach to grow always the same product. By contrast, the biodynamic philosophy entrusts smell, taste and colours of the products to climate, weather and nature. This is why the wines produced in his farm are truly unique. And now we are proud to make them accessible to all our UK customers; in Natural Vine you will find all Palazzo Tronconi’s selection of wines:

– the Zitore, with its light cherry colour and the intense perfume of dried plums, surrounded by spicy notes of black pepper, chocolate and vanilla. It is produced by the Lecinaro vine;

– the Donnicò, from the grape Olivella, with its dark ruby colour and its great texture;

– the Fatìa, a white wine with an intense fruity and floreal perfume with citrus notes, is produced from ancient hillside vineyards of the town of Arce;

– the Fregellae, an incredible white wine coming from the native vines Maturano, Pampanaro and Capolongo, that features a full‐bodied, harmonious and balanced taste, with great sapidity even‐tempered by his freshness;

– the Lauterie, from Syrah vines, a dark ruby wine with a persistent and balanced taste;

– the Mócevò, a dark ruby wine coming from Merlot and Sangiovese vines.

All the pictures are copyright of Azienda Agricola Biodinamica Palazzo Tronconi