Summary
Terra Fageto is a certified organic family estate in the Val d'Aso, the narrow river valley in the southern Marche that runs from the Sibillini mountains down to the Adriatic. Across around 35 hectares the Di Ruscio family – today in its fourth generation – farms vineyards on the hills between Pedaso, Campofilone and Altidona. The focus is clearly on white wine: more than 70% of production comes from the native varieties Pecorino, Passerina and Trebbiano, complemented by reds from Montepulciano and Sangiovese as well as sparkling wines and a passito. What defines the estate is the combination of committed organic farming, indigenous grapes and a terroir that – caught between sea breeze and mountain air – yields strikingly fresh, almost saline wines.
History
The estate's story begins in the 1950s, when grandfather Dante Di Ruscio made and sold wine in Campofilone. The oldest core of the estate's vineyards dates back to that time. In the next generation Claudio Di Ruscio and his wife Maria took over; under them the wines were first bottled on the estate, and stainless-steel tanks joined the wooden casks in the cellar.
Today Angelo and Michele Di Ruscio run the business, Angelo as the fourth generation of his family. The name goes back to the earlier designation 'Castel Fageto', itself a reference to the Castello di Pedaso. The most important recent step was the conversion to certified organic farming, completed around a decade ago – for a family that works in the vines every day, that was, by their own account, the obvious decision.
Location & Terroir
The Val d'Aso is a narrow river valley only about fifty kilometres long, running west to east from the Apennines to the Adriatic. That orientation is the key to the house style: sea breezes push inland in the mornings, while the Sibillini mountains behind the estate bring cool nights and a marked day-night temperature swing. The result is aromatically precise, acid-driven wines with palpable freshness.
The holdings fall into two blocks. The northern part around Campofilone is cooler and stays in the morning shade for longer; this is home mainly to the white varieties Trebbiano, Pecorino, Passerina and Chardonnay, as well as the olive grove planted with regional cultivars. The southern part at Altidona, in Contrada Belvedere, covers roughly ten hectares at around 250 metres, very sunny and strongly exposed to the wind. The soil there is a striking red, rich in iron oxide and geologically Pliocene in origin – hard to work, but decisive for the structure of the wines. Overall, clay-limestone soils with iron content dominate.
Style & Philosophy
Terra Fageto's signature is understated and rooted in place. The vineyards are worked without synthetic chemical products, essentially with copper and sulphur, and individual plots are farmed biodynamically – the white wine called 500 takes its name directly from the biodynamic horn manure preparation. In the cellar, sulphite additions are deliberately kept low.
Stylistically the whites lead the way: Pecorino delivers full-bodied, herb-scented wines with firm acidity, while Passerina gives leaner, citrus-toned base wines that are ideal for sparkling production. In the reserve range wood comes into play – the varietal Chardonnay Elisena, for instance, spends around a year in barrique and shows considerably more volume at 14% abv. The reds from Montepulciano and Sangiovese follow the classic Rosso Piceno pattern: dark fruit, soft tannin, moderate extraction.
Notable Vineyards & Wines
The range comprises about a dozen bottlings, clearly organised into lines:
- Salsedine and Fenèsia – Offida Pecorino DOCG, the estate's flagships
- 500 – Marche Bianco IGT based on Pecorino, from biodynamically influenced work
- Eva – Falerio DOC from Trebbiano, Passerina and Pecorino
- Letizia – Marche Passerina IGT
- Colle del Buffo and Rusus (selezione) – Rosso Piceno DOC
- Serrone – Marche Rosso IGT, and Elisena – Marche Bianco IGT from Chardonnay
- P41 – traditional-method Extra Brut, plus the sparkling wines Clèlia (Passerina) and Elìa (rosé)
- Alido – Marche Bianco Passito IGT, alongside an organic extra virgin olive oil
The estate does not work with classified single-vineyard crus; differentiation comes instead from the communes of Campofilone, Pedaso and Altidona.
Awards
Terra Fageto is a comparatively small producer, noticed less for guide scores than for regional recognition. The Rosso Piceno DOC Selezione Rusus has been honoured with the 'Eccellenza delle Marche' award, and the estate appears regularly in Italian wine portals and tasting reports from the Piceno. For a wider audience it is above all a dependable organic address for Pecorino and Passerina from the Val d'Aso – a profile that fits neatly with the current revaluation of the southern Marche.