Where is Damiano Ciolli located?

The estate is in Olevano Romano, a hilltop village in the province of Rome, about 45 kilometres south-east of the city. The vineyards sit at 300 to 450 metres above sea level, on the volcanic slopes below the village, in Lazio.

What grape does Damiano Ciolli grow?

The two reds are 100 percent Cesanese d'Affile, the more aromatic of the two Cesanese types grown in Lazio. The white, Botte Ventidue, blends Trebbiano Verde and Ottonese, two native Lazio grapes. The Castelli Romani co-operatives had largely dropped both before this project picked them up.

What is the difference between Silene and Cirsium?

Silene is the regular bottling. It comes from Cesanese vineyards planted in 1981 and 2002 and spends a year in concrete. Cirsium is the riserva. It comes only from a single plot planted in 1953, spends eighteen months in French oak, and then rests in bottle. Around 20,000 bottles of Silene are made each year, against only 3,000 to 4,000 of Cirsium.

Is Damiano Ciolli organic or biodynamic?

Damiano and Letizia farm without weedkillers or other chemicals. They use green manure and traditional field preparations, and they ferment with native yeasts. They do not advertise an organic or Demeter certificate, so the wines are best described as practising rather than certified.

Who makes the wine at Damiano Ciolli?

Damiano Ciolli took over the family winery in 2001. He runs it with his partner Letizia Rocchi, who holds a PhD in vine growing and winemaking. They make every decision in the vineyard and cellar together. Total production is under 25,000 bottles a year.

Can you visit Damiano Ciolli?

There is no public tasting room and no booking system on the winery website. Visits are by direct arrangement only, through the email address or phone number listed on the winery's contact page.

Damiano Ciolli

Damiano Ciolli grows Cesanese d'Affile on around ten football pitches of vines at Olevano Romano, a hilltop village 45 kilometres south-east of Rome. The soils are deep red and volcanic. The estate makes fewer than 25,000 bottles a year, all from old family vineyards, including the single plot planted in 1953 that becomes Cirsium. It sits at the centre of the quality revival of the Cesanese di Olevano Romano DOC.

Lazio
Walk-ins welcome

Damiano Ciolli and Letizia Rocchi on a tractor in the Cesanese vineyards above Olevano Romano

About Damiano Ciolli

The Ciolli family have farmed vines at Olevano Romano for at least three generations. Damiano's grandfather Guido and father Costantino worked in the post-war Lazio way: tend the vines, sell the juice in bulk to Roman bottlers, repeat. Damiano took the cellar back in 2001, at 23. His conviction was that Cesanese d'Affile could make wines worth bottling under their own name.

Olevano Romano is a medieval village perched at 600 metres on Monte Celeste, in the wedge of Lazio between the Castelli Romani lakes and the Cesanese hills of Ciociaria. The vineyards lie below the village, between 300 and 450 metres, on terraces of deep red volcanic soil sheltered on three sides by hills. Daily breezes off the Tyrrhenian sea keep the warm summers in check. The swing between warm days and cool nights keeps the grapes fresh.

Damiano runs the estate with Letizia Rocchi, his partner, who holds a PhD in vine growing and winemaking. They farm without weedkillers or other chemicals. Green manure and biodynamic preparations keep the volcanic soils alive, and native yeasts run every fermentation. The cellar work is unhurried. Silene spends a year in concrete. Cirsium goes into French oak for eighteen months on the lees, and both wines rest in bottle before release.

The range is short by design. Silene is the main wine, a Cesanese di Olevano Romano Superiore from vineyards planted in 1981 and 2002, around 20,000 bottles a year. Cirsium is the riserva. It comes only from the grandfather's 1953 plot, and only 3,000 to 4,000 bottles are made. Botte Ventidue, the white, is Letizia's newer project: roughly 70 percent Trebbiano Verde and 30 percent Ottonese, two old Lazio whites the Castelli Romani co-operatives had largely dropped.

Cesanese d'Affile is sometimes called the Pinot Noir of central Italy. The label oversells it, but it catches something real: the wines are aromatic and mid-weight, built on lift and detail rather than power. Over the past two decades, the work at Olevano Romano has pulled Lazio's Cesanese DOCs back into the conversation about serious Italian red. Damiano Ciolli sits at the centre of that revival.

Editorial · ItalianWines.co.uk

Plate I · LAZIO

Damiano Ciolli on the Lazio wine atlas

Anchored in Ciociaria and Piglio, the editorial heart of Lazio.

Via del Corso, snc, 00035 Olevano Romano, Roma (Lazio)

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Visit & Experiences

Experiences at Damiano Ciolli

The estate lists nothing you can book online, and whether it receives visitors is not confirmed. Its phone number and email are in Practical info. A call is the reliable route here.

At a glance, editorially verified

Tastings Not offered

Tours Not offered

Accommodation Not available

Booking Walk-ins welcome

Group tours that travel the Lazio countrysideThese tours stop at other producers in the area. None of them includes a visit to Damiano Ciolli.

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Wines from Damiano Ciolli

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Wines for this winery are still being curated. Check back as the UK retailer selection expands.

Plan your visit

damianociolli.it/

Via del Corso, snc, 00035 Olevano Romano, Roma (Lazio)

+39 069563334

[email protected]

Common questions

The estate is in Olevano Romano, a hilltop village in the province of Rome, about 45 kilometres south-east of the city. The vineyards sit at 300 to 450 metres above sea level, on the volcanic slopes below the village, in Lazio.
The two reds are 100 percent Cesanese d'Affile, the more aromatic of the two Cesanese types grown in Lazio. The white, Botte Ventidue, blends Trebbiano Verde and Ottonese, two native Lazio grapes. The Castelli Romani co-operatives had largely dropped both before this project picked them up.
Silene is the regular bottling. It comes from Cesanese vineyards planted in 1981 and 2002 and spends a year in concrete. Cirsium is the riserva. It comes only from a single plot planted in 1953, spends eighteen months in French oak, and then rests in bottle. Around 20,000 bottles of Silene are made each year, against only 3,000 to 4,000 of Cirsium.
Damiano and Letizia farm without weedkillers or other chemicals. They use green manure and traditional field preparations, and they ferment with native yeasts. They do not advertise an organic or Demeter certificate, so the wines are best described as practising rather than certified.
Damiano Ciolli took over the family winery in 2001. He runs it with his partner Letizia Rocchi, who holds a PhD in vine growing and winemaking. They make every decision in the vineyard and cellar together. Total production is under 25,000 bottles a year.
There is no public tasting room and no booking system on the winery website. Visits are by direct arrangement only, through the email address or phone number listed on the winery's contact page.

Get in touch

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