The Biodynamic Abruzzo Delights of De Fermo

De Fermo Producer Profile

Quick Facts

Name of Estate	De Fermo
Region	Abruzzo
Country	Italy
Proprietor	Eloisa de Fermo and Stefano Papetti Ceroni
Size	16 hectares
Farming	Biodynamic (certified)
Soils	Clay and limestone
Grapes grown	Montepulciano, Pecorino, Chardonnay, Trebbiano
Fun facts	Stefano is childhood friends with Federico Orsi. As pre-teens, they would buy bottles just to smell them and formed a tasting group in high school. Europe is different than the US.

Stefano is childhood friends with Federico Orsi. As pre-teens, they would buy bottles just to smell them and formed a tasting group in high school. Europe is different than the US.

Name of Estate	De Fermo
Region	Abruzzo
Country	Italy
Proprietor	Eloisa de Fermo and Stefano Papetti Ceroni
Size	16 hectares
Farming	Biodynamic (certified)
Soils	Clay and limestone
Grapes grown	Montepulciano, Pecorino, Chardonnay, Trebbiano
Fun facts	Stefano is childhood friends with Federico Orsi. As pre-teens, they would buy bottles just to smell them and formed a tasting group in high school. Europe is different than the US.

Get to know
De Fermo

producer profile 15.10.2020

De Fermo Producer Profile

The story of De Fermo, a relatively new <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> founded in 2010 by Stefano Papetti Ceroni and his wife Eloisa de Fermo, is quite unconventional. Originally from <glossary term="Bologna" title="172">Bologna</glossary>, Stefano does not come from an agricultural background but nonetheless took interest in wine at a very young age. He began a tasting group with his friends in high school (including his best friend <a href="http://louisdressner.com/producers/federico%20orsi%7Cvigneto%20san%20vito">Federico Orsi</a>) and started visiting wineries as soon as he was old enough to do so. By Stefano's early 20's, wine had become his passion.  While studying law in Bologna, he met his future wife Eloisa. In their early years together, weekend trips to wineries became the norm. In 2007, seven years after the couple had met, Eloisa proposed they visit her family farm in <glossary term="Abruzzo" title="1426">Abruzzo</glossary>; it that had been in the de Fermo family for generations but she had no real connection to it.  Not expecting much, Stefano was shocked to discover a sprawling, ancient property with a rich history: "The first document stating <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> in our farm is the Chronicon Casauriense (IX century), a chronicle of San Clemente abbey in <glossary term="Abruzzo" title="1426">Abruzzo</glossary>. That document states the sale of our land by a Lombard-Frankish family to the abbey. The monks kept the farm alive for centuries. Our family bought the farm in 1785." Stefano fell hard for the De Fermo farm. In the winter of 2007, he began spending every weekend in <glossary term="Abruzzo" title="1426">Abruzzo</glossary>, learning from the <glossary term="Contadino" title="329">contadini</glossary> hired by Eloisa's family to run the property. He eventually asked his father-in-law if he could manage a <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> of vines to teach himself <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary>, providing a first glimpse of what owning a winery could be like. But with he and Eloisa holding down successful law careers in <glossary term="Bologna" title="172">Bologna</glossary> (not to mention two new-borns), the idea seemed too crazy. And with no money to invest in the <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary> he dreamed of building, it seemed like the weekend visits would have to do.  In 2009, Stefano asked the old man managing the property to see what was in the old farm house that had been abandoned since 1940's. Unbeknownst to Eloisa, he discovered an underground <glossary term="Cantina" title="233">cantina</glossary> in the basement. After testing it for temperature and humidity, a small restoration was done on the old <glossary term="Concrete" title="325">concrete</glossary> <glossary term="Vat/Tank" title="1140">tanks</glossary>, two <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrels</glossary> were purchased and 32 <glossary term="Hectoliter" title="524">hectoliters</glossary> of wine were produced in 2010, roughly 4000 bottles. Production increased each year, and by 2013 Stefano was managing all 16 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of vines, keeping the best grapes for the De Fermo <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> and selling off the rest. Today, almost all of the grapes go into the <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary>'s independent production. For vines, 11 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of <glossary term="Montepulciano Grape" title="1275">Montepulciano</glossary> are planted along with 2.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of <glossary term="Pecorino" title="1434">Pecorino</glossary>, 2.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of <glossary term="Chardonnay" title="271">Chardonnay</glossary> and 0.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of experimental white grapes including <glossary term="Trebbiano/Ugni Blanc" title="1043">Trebbiano</glossary>. The <glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroirs</glossary> here are considered amongst the best in the region. While the vast majority of vines in <glossary term="Abruzzo" title="1426">Abruzzo</glossary> are trained in <glossary term="Pergola" title="774">pergola</glossary>, the <glossary term="Contadino" title="329">contadini</glossary> who managed the farm prior to Stefano (despite the entirety of the grape production being sold off) had meticulously maintained the vineyards' <glossary term="Training System" title="1039">training systems</glossary> of <glossary term="Cordon" title="335">Cordon de Royat</glossary> and <glossary term="Gobelet" title="497">alberello</glossary>. The <glossary term="Pergola" title="774">pergola</glossary> "tradition" is a post-World War 2 phenomenon and also a sure-fire way to get very high <glossary term="Yield" title="1129">yields</glossary>. De Fermo is one of the only <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estates</glossary> in all of <glossary term="Abruzzo" title="1426">Abruzzo</glossary> to not own a single <glossary term="Pergola" title="774">pergola</glossary> vine. As a result, <glossary term="Yield" title="1129">yields</glossary> are often 50% lower than their average neighbor. The <glossary term="Concentration" title="324">concentration</glossary> in the wines is evident and a big part of what sets them apart. Stefano and Eloisa have now fully reclaimed the property and are working the olive trees, wheat fields, vegetable gardens and raising animals in addition to tending the vines. This push for <glossary term="Biodiversity" title="1162">biodiversity</glossary> very much stems from their dedicated, thoughtful approach to <glossary term="Biodynamic" title="160">biodynamic</glossary> farming, a philosophy that resonates in every aspect of their lives.

interview 20.10.2020

An Interview with Stefano Papetti Ceroni from 2020

This interview with Stefano Papetti Ceroni took place over Skype in October, 2020. Tell us about the history of the estate.  I will try to summarize the history, because it’s quite long.We should start with my relationship with wine, which is quite strange. I’m from <glossary term="Bologna" title="172">Bologna</glossary> and my family has no link to farming. But I started being curious about wine at a very young age, around 11 or 12 years old. It came from reading my mother’s cooking magazines in the late 1980’s. I used to see the wine descriptions and <glossary term="Wine Label" title="573">labels</glossary>. With my childhood friend <a href="http://louisdressner.com/producers/federico%20orsi%7Cvigneto%20san%20vito">Federico Orsi</a>, we began buying bottles in our early teens. We actually didn’t drink the wine, we would just smell it. My mother is very open minded: I had an older brother who smoked and she felt spending money on wine was better than tobacco! All through high school, a group of friends including Federico began tasting and studying wine. When we were old enough to take a <glossary term="Sommelier" title="969">sommelier</glossary> course at 18, we all took it. We also started to travel north to <glossary term="Piemonte" title="793">Piemonte</glossary>, <glossary term="Friuli" title="470">Friuli</glossary> and <glossary term="Tuscany" title="1055">Tuscany</glossary> to visit wineries. But I never travelled to <glossary term="Abruzzo" title="1426">Abruzzo</glossary> in my youth. I studied law at university. My passion was history but my father told me I needed to study something that get me a serious job (laughs). It felt like I was forced into it, but some good came out of my studies because it's where I met my wife. She’s originally from <glossary term="Abruzzo" title="1426">Abruzzo</glossary> but came to <glossary term="Bologna" title="172">Bologna</glossary> to study. We were 23 at the time, and after a few months she invited me to visit <glossary term="Abruzzo" title="1426">Abruzzo</glossary> with her. We were together four years before getting married in 2005, and it actually took another two years to visit the De Fermo farm for the first time. We used to go visit other farms over the weekend, and finally she proposed we see her family land. It took so long because she was not linked to this land at all; her family had ceased being directly involved after World War 2. After the war, the farm was managed by people hired by her family. They ran the farm and sold the grapes, olives and wheat. To be honest, I was not expecting to see such a beautiful place when we first visited. Her family never talked about it, so I suppose I was expecting something more normal, simpler. But from the very first visit, it was magical: I always say it was my second "love at first sight" after my wife. The place was incredible, is incredible. So starting in winter 2007, I started going there every weekend. I was 32 at the time and while I was very unhappy with my job, it did not feel possible to just quit. Neither of our families would understand or accept this decision: we had two new borns, good jobs…  So I started going every weekend and learning from the <glossary term="Contadino" title="329">contadini</glossary> that had been taking care of the farm. They had already been working <glossary term="Organic" title="746">organically</glossary> since the early 2000’s. Eventually I asked my father-in-law if I could have one <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> of vineyards to manage. For two years, I practiced <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> there. I had zero experience, so I needed the practice to build a new relationship with the place and the plants. Obviously my dream was to start a wine project, but it really felt like just a dream: I wanted to build a traditional, underground winery, etc… But at the time I didn’t have the courage to ask money from my family and had none of my own to personally invest. But in 2009, I made an interesting discovery. After a disagreement I had one day with the old man managing the farm, I asked him to give me the key to the farmhouse to see what was inside. He gave me the huge key ring and after opening up the house, I discovered there was an underground winery in the basement. This was shocking to me; for two years I had been spending every day with this man on the weekends, telling him about my dream to start a winery. He never once told me that this <glossary term="-Select term-" title="">cantina</glossary> existed! It’s a simple and traditional place, but perfect for winemaking. So your principal concern with starting your own winery was the financial burden of building a cellar? Exactly. But when I discovered the <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary>, the first thing I did was call my wife to ask if she knew it existed. She had no idea! You have to understand that this house was abandoned since World War 2; the last people to live there were German soldiers for a few months. So she’d actually never been inside the house. It sounds strange but it's pretty common in central Italy actually. I started calculating the humidity and the temperature of the <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary>, because I was adamant about not <glossary term="Temperature Control" title="1018">controlling temperatures</glossary>. Fortunately our ancestors knew how to build <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellars</glossary> without technology, and this one was from the 18th century. So I did a very small renovation in 2010: cleaning the <glossary term="Palmento" title="758">palmento</glossary>, getting rid of all the 50 year old <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrels</glossary> but most importantly restoring the <glossary term="Concrete" title="325">concrete</glossary> <glossary term="Vat/Tank" title="1140">tanks</glossary> that existed well before World War 2. 2010 was my first <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> and was experimental. We made two 16<glossary term="Hectoliter" title="524">hl</glossary> <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrels</glossary>, around 4000 bottles. It was great because there was no pressure; we were free to experiment and make mistakes. It was also fairly cheap: the restoration, two <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrels</glossary> and a pump. I’ve never studied winemaking and my experience was limited to spending time with Federico around <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary>, visiting a lot of wineries and reading some books. But here I had a <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> of grapes to try whatever I wanted: no <glossary term="Commercial Yeast" title="321">yeasts</glossary>, <glossary term="Enzymes" title="423">enzymes</glossary> or <glossary term="Temperature Control" title="1018">temperature control</glossary>. After a year or so, I began showing the wines to people I felt would understand my work and give me good advice.  A close neighbor of mine is Francesco Paolo Valentini. He knows the area very well, knows the quality of the <glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroir</glossary> and in fact told me his father believed the best vineyards in our sector were the De Fermo ones. To hear one of Italy and certainly <glossary term="Abruzzo" title="1426">Abruzzo</glossary>’s most famous producer tell me this was very encouraging. So in 2012 we made our first white wine and started with the <glossary term="Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo" title="1432">Cerasuolo</glossary>, the region’s traditional <glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosato</glossary>. Year by year we increased production, and by 2013 we were managing all 16 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of vines. We eventually started managing the whole farm. Wine is like the engine for the rest of the project, but it’s only 10% of the total land. Now we are very focused on growing olives, wheat, legumes, vegetables, animals, etc…  Who were the people living and managing the farm before you took over? Consider that in my wife’s family, everyone had jobs in town. The last person in her family to manage the farm was her great uncle. That ended after World War 2. He was also a politician and a lawyer. So after the war the family hired someone to manage the land. For decades, my father-in-law (and his father and grandfather before him) would visit maybe twice a month to check if the money was well managed. At the end of the year, they never lost money, made a little bit of income and that was good enough for them. The amazing thing, and we still don’t really know why, is how well the <glossary term="Contadino" title="329">contadini</glossary> maintained and renovated the vineyards over the years. In almost all of <glossary term="Abruzzo" title="1426">Abruzzo</glossary>, the <glossary term="Training System" title="1039">vineyard training</glossary> is <glossary term="Pergola" title="774">pergola</glossary>. They say it’s a tradition, but I always question what they mean by that. If you mean that anything after 1945 is tradition then yes, it’s traditional. But prior to the war, all of <glossary term="Abruzzo" title="1426">Abruzzo</glossary>’s <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> was done in <glossary term="Gobelet" title="497">alberello</glossary> and <glossary term="Cordon" title="335">Cordon de Royat</glossary>. I have pre-war photos of the vineyards and they look like a tomato field: full of plants and little <glossary term="Gobelet" title="497">alberellos</glossary>.  So they maintained and replanted everything in alberello? And this is very rare in the region? Very rare. We are one of the very few farms in <glossary term="Abruzzo" title="1426">Abruzzo</glossary> to have no <glossary term="Pergola" title="774">pergolas</glossary>, mostly <glossary term="Cordon" title="335">Cordon de Royat</glossary> and a few of the very old vines in <glossary term="Gobelet" title="497">alberello</glossary>. Obviously, a <glossary term="Pergola" title="774">pergola</glossary> can produce 15 to 18 tons per <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary>. We produce less than 50% of that on average. Anyhow, I don’t know if it’s destiny but the vines were incredibly maintained.  So the house is unlivable at the moment?  It was, but we restored a bit of it. It’s been 10 years of me doing this full time, and last year we finished restoring the first floor of the house. It was a lot of work and a big investment, and we had prioritized restoring other structures, for example where the wheat is stored, a <glossary term="Bottling" title="185">bottling</glossary> room, a storage room… I’ve gotten great satisfaction over the years bringing life back to this place. Before World War 2, 150 people worked here; it was a huge community. There are houses inside the farm where entire families used to live, some fully equipped with ancient ovens.  Now we are eight people working there full time. During the grape and olive <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvests</glossary>, we get to around 15 or 16. I’m 45 and I’m the oldest; most of the guys are in their 20’s and early 30’s. Everyone is very passionate.  You still live in Bologna right? No. I live on the farm and go to <glossary term="Bologna" title="172">Bologna</glossary> on the weekends. It’s a three hour drive, it’s not so bad. I usually get back Friday night or Saturday morning to see my children; we’ve decided to keep them in school in <glossary term="Bologna" title="172">Bologna</glossary>. The quality of education, culture and life is quite high there. Right now my kids are 14 and 12. I plan to keep it this way until they are old enough to graduate.  And your wife stays in Bologna throughout the week? Exactly. She stays in my family home there and I stay in her family home here! It’s the opposite of what you used to do! Exactly!  But I like this way of life. The three hours I have to myself in the car are mine alone: I don’t talk to anyone and can plan what I need to do for the week. I think it’s also great for my children: they spend their entire summers here and spent the last six months of the lockdown in <glossary term="Abruzzo" title="1426">Abruzzo</glossary> with me. It’s also a chance for them to experience two places, two cultures, a chance to learn.  Can we talk about biodynamics? It seems very important to you and De Fermo is one of the most respected in this newer wave of biodynamic farmers.  I came to <glossary term="Biodynamic" title="160">biodynamics</glossary> through <glossary term="Anthroposophy" title="1433">anthroposophy</glossary>, the philosophical side. My mother is a woman of great culture and started studying philosophy when she was very young. She’s been very liberal with us, and that included applying many of <glossary term="Rudolph Steiner" title="882">Rudolf Steiner</glossary>’s teachings while raising her children.  With this approach to farming, it started with my friend <a href="http://louisdressner.com/producers/federico%20orsi%7Cvigneto%20san%20vito">Federico Orsi</a> who had created his own winery in 2005. He had hired a <glossary term="Biodynamic" title="160">biodynamic</glossary> consultant from <glossary term="Tuscany" title="1055">Tuscany</glossary> and suggested I do the same. So I started studying <glossary term="Biodynamic" title="160">biodynamics</glossary> in 2007.  But I think life is about the people you meet along the way: whether professional or personal, I think there is always a reason for the people we meet in every period of our lives. Federico is one of those people: he’s one of my best and oldest friends but he’s also the person who started talking to me about taking an <glossary term="Anthroposophy" title="1433">anthroposophical</glossary> approach to farming.  From there, I started intentionally seeking out <glossary term="Biodynamic" title="160">biodynamic</glossary> farmers, tasting their wines and talking to them at various fairs. Stefano Bellotti in particular but many others began to open my mind. In the end, this helped broaden my vision of life. It was not part of my original plan for making wine.  But frankly, I don’t like talking about <glossary term="Biodynamic" title="160">biodynamic</glossary> wine. If <glossary term="Biodynamic" title="160">biodynamics</glossary> are <glossary term="Anthroposophy" title="1433">anthroposophy</glossary> applied to farming, wine has never been mentioned in any of <glossary term="Rudolph Steiner" title="882">Rudolf Steiner</glossary>’s writings. Wine contains alcohol and <glossary term="Rudolph Steiner" title="882">Steiner</glossary> considered alcohol a poison. So the true <glossary term="Anthroposophy" title="1433">anthroposopher</glossary> does not drink wine.  <glossary term="Biodynamic" title="160">Biodynamic</glossary> farming is a great thing for the soil, for the place you live and for the people working there. It’s a great way to approach the world. But I don’t like it being used as a marketing tool, and feel for the most part that the most vocal cheerleaders of <glossary term="Biodynamic" title="160">biodynamics</glossary> are not doing the real work. <glossary term="Biodynamic" title="160">Biodynamism</glossary> is searching the depths of energy in the natural. So I love taking about it with people who work the same way, but honestly it’s usually in a more holistic, general vision of our work.  You mentioned earlier that you have progressively increased production each year. Where are you at now? In 2020, I didn’t sell any white grapes and maybe 15% of the red grapes. It’s been more or less the case for the last three years. But I’ve always worked all 16 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of vines exactly the same. When we were making a lot less wine it was a big investment, but it also permitted me to choose the best grapes for the De Fermo production, to learn about the <glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroir</glossary>. I learned that the best grapes are not always from the same vineyard. It was also a lack of space at first and not having enough of a market to sell the wines.  Can you explain the “Concrete” line of wines?  This project started in 2014. The American restauranteur Joe Campanale came to visit after tasting and liking my wines very much. At that period, the only red wine we produced was the “Prologo”, a very rich, powerful and traditional <glossary term="Montepulciano Grape" title="1275">Montepulciano</glossary>. During the visit, he wondered if it would be possible to make a different style of <glossary term="Montepulciano Grape" title="1275">Montepulciano</glossary>, a fresher style with short <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">maceration</glossary>. He was launching his own label at the time and we agreed to experiment. It was a good opportunity to attempt something new. So it started that way, but I also kept some of the production for myself to better understand this style of red and eventually I started selling it. I became very happy with this wine, because doing a young and fresh <glossary term="Montepulciano Grape" title="1275">Montepulciano</glossary> is not easy. Like most of the red grapes in central/southern Italy, it is full of power and <glossary term="Tannin" title="1010">tannin</glossary>. A wine made here with long <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">maceration</glossary> is a wine you have to wait on. Working on a young wine with good <glossary term="Acidity" title="71">acidity</glossary> that you can drink within the year, you need to manage that power. It’s a challenge for us, but we love it.  And the Concrete Bianco? In 2015, the <glossary term="Pecorino" title="1434">Pecorino</glossary> was so rich, like 15+ alcohol. So in 2016, we decided to pick some grapes very early with low sugars and high <glossary term="Acidity" title="71">acidity</glossary>. That way, if we had an extremely hot summer like 2015, we could cut the full-bodied <glossary term="Pecorino" title="1434">Pecorino</glossary> with this fresher batch. We did it again in 2017, and eventually realized we liked this fresh, low alcohol wine neutrally <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">fermented</glossary> in <glossary term="Concrete" title="325">concrete</glossary>. So in 2018, we intentionally <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinified</glossary> 20<glossary term="Hectoliter" title="524">hl</glossary> this way. In 2019 we made more, even more in 2020.  For a while we were selling a lot of the white grapes. But Stefano Bellotti, in the last year before he left us, told me I should really be saving them for myself. For me, the "Concrete" wines are the everyday wines, simple wines. When you say semplice in Italian, it’s a positive thing!

producer profile 15.10.2020

De Fermo Producer Profile

interview 20.10.2020

An Interview with Stefano Papetti Ceroni from 2020