Marco Carpineti

On the slopes of the Lepini mountains, an hour south of Rome, sits Cori — a hilltop town older than the Republic itself, where vines have been coaxing greatness out of volcanic soil since Roman times. It’s here, on land his family has farmed for generations, that Marco Carpineti decided wine could be more than a product. It could be a place, bottled.

The turning point came in 1986, when Marco left his old life behind to take the reins of the family farm — and then again in 1994, when he converted the entire estate to organic agriculture, making him one of Italy’s true organic pioneers, years before it was fashionable. No herbicides, no chemical fertilizers, no synthetic anything. Just patient hands, untilled soils, biodynamic rhythms — and in some vineyards, horses still working the rows.

But Carpineti’s boldest act was one of rediscovery. While others planted what the market wanted, he went looking for what Cori had almost lost: Bellone, the golden grape the Romans drank two thousand years ago; Greco Moro and Greco Giallo, two nearly vanished varieties coaxed back from the brink; and Nero Buono di Cori, a red so local it carries the town in its name. Today these ancient grapes — grown on sun-drenched tuff and limestone at 400 meters — become everything from crystalline whites and amphora-aged reds to Kius, the estate’s acclaimed line of sparkling wines.

It’s a family affair, and a growing one. Marco leads the vineyards; his son Paolo, creator of the Kius project, guides the business; his daughter Isabella opens the cellar doors to the world through the Carpineti Experience — tastings, walks, and events that connect every glass to the hills, history, and people behind it.