The name says everything: Lammidia is Abruzzese dialect for the evil eye, named after a folk ritual performed by Davide Gentile's grandmother Antonia when the duo's first fermentation refused to start. That founding story — two friends, no formal wine training, a grandmother's intervention — captures exactly the spirit of what Davide Gentile and Marco Giuliani have built.
Backstory
Gentile and Giuliani are childhood friends from Abruzzo who reconnected after university and discovered a shared obsession with natural wine. Their first experimental fermentation failed in 2010; after Grandmother Antonia performed her ritual, it finally got moving. By 2013 they released their first official wines from a base at Davide's grandmother's house in Villa Celiera, inside the Gran Sasso National Park. They have not looked back since, now releasing up to 30 distinct cuvées each year.
The Region
Villa Celiera sits on a plateau at 714 metres in the Pescara province of Abruzzo, surrounded by the peaks of the Gran Sasso massif with sea views toward the Adriatic on clear days. The microclimate is continental and severe: cold winters, hot summers, minimal rainfall. This altitude and exposure shape wines of natural freshness despite the region's warm reputation.
Vineyards and Farming
Lammidia sources just over five hectares of organically farmed fruit from trusted grower friends who use no pesticides, herbicides or systemic treatments, with plans to become self-sufficient in grape supply in coming years. Varieties include Montepulciano, Trebbiano, Pinot Noir, Barbera and several unknown old-vine selections. The duo's motto — uva e basta, grapes and nothing else — defines the farming and cellar philosophy alike.
Winemaking
Gentile and Giuliani built their own concrete tanks and amphorae by hand and supplement them with steel and fiberglass containers. No chemicals have ever entered the cellar; all processes are mechanical. Fermentations proceed spontaneously. Zero SO2 is added at any stage across the entire range.
The Wines
The portfolio is kaleidoscopic: pet-nats (Sciambagn), orange wines (Anfora Bianco), red field blends (Panda, Rosh on Trebbiano), carbonic-style wines and direct-press rosés jostle for attention alongside single-variety expressions of Montepulciano and Trebbiano. Each cuvée is bottled in tiny quantities, making Lammidia one of the most sought-after names in the Italian natural wine scene.
