Cantina Neri

Cantina Neri is a family wine estate on Bardano hill, about 6 km north-west of Orvieto in south-west Umbria. It trades as Cantine Neri. The Neri family bought the land in the 1950s and started making its own wine in the mid-2000s. Today Enrico Neri runs the cellar and his father looks after the vines. Most of the grapes are white, and the flagship wine is Ca' Viti, an Orvieto Classico Superiore. Tastings and tours are booked online, and some of the wine ages in barrels in rock-cut caves.

Book a visit 3 experiences · from €28
Aerial view of vineyard rows below a wooded hilltop near Orvieto, on the Cantine Neri estate

About Cantina Neri

The Neri family bought its land on Bardano hill in the 1950s. It covered about 42 hectares, roughly 59 football pitches, with vines and olive trees already growing. For years Enrico Neri's father sold the grapes to other wineries. In the mid-2000s Enrico joined the business, and the family started turning some of its grapes into its own wine. It has sold that wine in Italy and abroad since 2006. The work is still split between them. His father runs the vineyards, and Enrico makes the wine with the winemaker Aurora di Sclafani.

The winery is a 19th-century grain barn that the family restored with recycled and local materials. Solar panels now supply all the electricity the cellar uses. Beside it, caves cut into the tuff, the soft volcanic rock that Orvieto stands on, hold the oak barrels. The estate dates the caves to the Etruscans, and their temperature and humidity stay steady all year. Guided visits walk from the vineyard through the cellar and into the caves. Tastings follow in the farmhouse, whose oldest rooms date from the 13th century, or on the estate's terrace above the vines. The estate belongs to the Strada dei Vini Etrusco Romana, the local wine road.

About four-fifths of the vineyard is planted with white grapes. They are Grechetto, Procanico (the local name for Trebbiano), Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. The rest is red: Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Nero. The vines grow between 220 and 320 metres up, on clay soils of volcanic origin. Big swings between day and night temperatures help the grapes ripen slowly. They are picked by hand in the coolest hours of the day, and each variety is fermented on its own.

Ca' Viti, the estate's Orvieto Classico Superiore, is made from Grechetto and Procanico with a little Drupeggio, Verdello and Malvasia. The estate's shop still sells vintages back to 2014. For an article on Umbria, Seminario Veronelli picked Ca' Viti 2018 as one of three everyday wines from its Gold Guide. In 2019 Cantine Neri and four other Orvieto growers presented a joint quality plan in Milan. The others were Palazzone, Madonna del Latte, Sergio Mottura and Tenuta di Salviano. Their aim was to restore Orvieto's name after years as a cheap filler in big bottlers' ranges. To show that Orvieto ages well, they poured old vintages from all five cellars.

Beside Ca' Viti sits Vardano, a Grechetto aged for six months in French oak. Bianco dei Neri blends Chardonnay and Sauvignon. The reds are Rosso dei Neri, a Rosso Orvietano, and Americo, aged for a year in French oak. Barrage is a sparkling Grechetto made by the Metodo Classico. It ages for at least 30 months on its yeasts in the caves. Poggio Forno is a sweet white from grapes touched by noble rot and picked in early November. In all, the estate makes about 50,000 bottles a year. The family also makes olive oil and grappa, and sells everything in its wine shop on the estate.

Editorial · ItalianWines.co.uk

Plate I · UMBRIA

Cantina Neri on the Umbria wine atlas

Anchored in Orvieto, the editorial heart of Umbria.

Località Bardano, 28, 05018 Orvieto, Terni (Umbria)
Get directions
Visit & Experiences

3 bookable experiences at Cantina Neri

3 tastings, checked by our editors. From €28.

Hosted by the estate3 available

The Etruscan Nectar: cave cellar tour and three wines at Cantina Neri Tasting & Tour

The Etruscan Nectar: cave cellar tour and three wines

90 minutes From €28 per adult

A 90-minute visit. It starts with the view over the old vineyard from the terrace. A guide then takes you through the winery to the barrel room, in a cave the estate dates to Etruscan times, with a view towards Orvieto. You taste three wines with cured meats, local pecorino and bruschetta with the estate's own olive oil.

Book this tour

on shop.cantineneri.it

Five wines and the sparkling-wine cave at Cantina Neri Tasting & Tour

Five wines and the sparkling-wine cave

2 hours 30 minutes From €85 per adult, minimum 2 people

Two and a half hours. You walk the old vineyard, then go through the winery to the cave where the sparkling Barrage ages. Five wines follow: Barrage, Orvieto Classico Superiore from different years, the estate's still Grechetto and its sweet noble rot wine. They come with cured Mangalica pork, regional cheeses, lumachelle bread and bruschetta with the estate's olive oil.

Book this tour

on shop.cantineneri.it

Family recipes: cooking class and dinner at Cantina Neri Food Pairing

Family recipes: cooking class and dinner

4 hours From €160 per adult, minimum 2 adults

A four-hour experience that begins with a tour of the cellar and the old caves beside it. You then cook three classic Orvieto dishes in the estate's kitchen, guided by its chefs. Dinner follows, with the dishes you made and four local wines. You take home an apron and cards with the recipes.

Book this pairing

on shop.cantineneri.it

Tours that visit Cantina NeriRun by a tour operator. The estate is one stop of several. Booking completes on the platform that runs the tour.

Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio from Civitavecchia - Private Tour

8 hours From €540 per person
Book this tour
Booking viaViator

Unique EnoBike experience with tasting in 2 excellent wineries

5 hours From €170 per person
Book this tour
Booking viaViator

Private Orvieto Daytrip from Rome with Winery Visit

8 hours From €590 per person
Book this tour
Booking viaViator

Not seeing the estate you want? Estates without an online listing are reachable directly, and their phone and email are in Plan your visit.

Some booking links earn italianwines.co.uk a commission. This never affects price or what we recommend.

Wines from Cantina Neri

Wines Coming Soon

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

Plan your visit

cantineneri.it/
Località Bardano, 28, 05018 Orvieto, Terni (Umbria)
+39 0763316196
[email protected]

Common questions

  • Yes. Tastings and tours are booked and paid for on the estate's own website, which shows the dates and times still free. The shortest is a 30-minute tasting on the terrace above the vineyard. Most visits add a guided walk through the cellar and the caves before the wines are poured. Tastings run in English as well as Italian.
Plan a visit

Ask us to arrange your visit to Cantina Neri

This form reaches the ItalianWines.co.uk team, not the winery. Tell us when you would like to come and how many you are: we contact Cantina Neri for you and come back with availability and prices, usually within two working days.

More from Umbria

More wineries in Umbria

See all Umbria wineries
Lungarotti
Umbria · Torgiano

Lungarotti

The Lungarotti family's modern winery, founded by Giorgio in 1962 in the Tiber valley town of Torgiano. It bottles Umbria's first DOCG, Torgiano Rosso Riserva, from the Vigna Monticchio cru, alongside the everyday Rubesco Rosso di Torgiano DOC and a Montefalco Sagrantino range from Tenuta Brancalupo. VIVA-certified and run by the sisters Chiara and Teresa, with two cellars open for tasting, two museums and the Le Tre Vaselle relais.

Red grapeSangiovese Red grapeGrechetto White grapeVermentino
16wines From £12.65
Arnaldo Caprai
Umbria · Montefalco

Arnaldo Caprai

Founded by Arnaldo Caprai in 1971 and led by his son Marco since 1986, this Montefalco estate set the modern dry Sagrantino style. The 25 Anni is its benchmark wine. The cellar runs tastings every day and holds the Equalitas sustainability standard.

Red grapeSagrantino Red grapeMerlot Red grapeSangiovese
14wines From £12.54
Castello della Sala Est. 1940
Umbria · Ficulle

Castello della Sala

Castello della Sala is Antinori's Umbrian estate near Ficulle, built around a 14th century fortress. It is known for Cervaro della Sala, Muffato della Sala and Pinot Nero della Sala. The listed bottles centre on Umbria IGT, with grapes such as Chardonnay, Grechetto and Sauvignon Blanc.

White grapeChardonnay Red grapeGrechetto White grapeSauvignon Blanc
6wines From £18.53
Barberani Est. 1961
Umbria · Baschi

Barberani

Family estate above Lake Corbara, in the historic Classico heart of Orvieto. Niccolo and Bernardo Barberani, the third generation, farm 55 hectares of certified organic vines and keep about 30 hectares of forest. Best known for the Castagnolo and Luigi e Giovanna Orvieto Classico Superiore, the noble-rot Calcaia, and the red blend Polvento.

Red grapeGrechetto Red grapeTrebbiano
5wines From £12.50
Azienda Agricola Decugnano dei Barbi Est. 1973
Umbria · Orvieto

Azienda Agricola Decugnano dei Barbi

Decugnano dei Barbi sits in the hills north-east of Orvieto, on sandy soil full of fossil seashells. Claudio Barbi took on the abandoned estate in 1973, and the estate says his first sparkling wine, from 1978, was the first of its kind in Umbria. His son Enzo carries on the work. Mare Antico, an Orvieto Classico Superiore, is the white the estate says best represents it, beside the red A.D.1212 and the sweet Pourriture Noble. Tours, tastings and cooking classes can be booked online, and Villa Barbi sleeps up to ten.

4wines From £17.08
Roccafiore Est. 1999
Umbria · Todi

Roccafiore

Roccafiore is a 15-hectare Baccarelli family estate above Todi, built on Grechetto di Todi clone G5 and Sangiovese on south-east-facing clay and marl slopes. With the Wine Resort and Spa, the Wine Chalet and Ristorante Fiorfiore, it is one of Umbria's easiest cellars to visit. It is certified under VIVA for sustainability and belongs to FIVI.

Red grapeGrechetto Red grapeSagrantino Red grapeTrebbiano
4wines From £13.70
Book a visit 3 experiences · from €28
See experiences