Wanna talk about low-intervention? Ask the Cistercian Sisters at Monastero Suore Cistercensi in Vitorchiano, Lazio, about 20 kilometers south of Orvieto. With the help of Giampiero Bea since the early 2000s, this is where 80 women cultivate vines among 12 acres of organic vineyards, gardens, and orchards. They produce approximately 500 cases per year, so this is not a major commercial enterprise but a way to help support the monastery according to long-standing traditions of religious cottage industries like wine & spirits, crafts, and food products. Using only the basic tools necessary for old-fashioned wine production, the monastery cellar is essentially devoid of technology, and the equipment is minimal, except for steel and fiberglass tanks for vinification and aging. There are currently three unfined/unfiltered wines in the repertoire: Coenobium Bianco and Coenobium Ruscum skin-contact made with Trebbiano, Verdicchio, and Malvasia; and Benedic Rosso using Ciliegiolo and Sangiovese. If you want some, just ask for the "Nun wine."
