Tenuta San Marcello is a small independent winery in the Italian region of Marche, founded by Massimo and Pascale, a couple who fell in love with the hills of Marche and decided to start cultivating the land and live off its fruits. Years of meticulous care of their vines and research into natural methods of agriculture and wine-making led Massimo to visit Georgia in the Caucasus Mountains, renowned for its ancient wine-making traditions. In Georgia, Massimo learnt about the process of fermentation in amphora – an ancient Hellenic technique, originally used by Etruscans and Piceni, which is still in use in Georgia today. The grapes, including the skins and stems are left to macerate over a long period of time in clay vessels buried underground. Cielo Sommerso, the first wine to be produced by Tenuta using this technique, was born.

Cielo Sommerso is a unique bio-dynamic white wine. The makers have faithfully followed an ancient technique of ageing the wine in clay pots, buried underground for a period of eight months, resulting in incredibly rich and vibrant flavours.

Superunion took inspiration from this unique ancient method to create a name, label and clay wrap.

Cielo Sommerso, or Submerged Sky, is a metaphor for the sun-soaked grapes concealed underground. To further express the idea, a local artist hand-painted a cloud scape in rich and vibrant colours which was then used for the label. It is designed to tell the incredible story of the wine-making process, where all the natural elements under the blue sky of the Marche hills fuse together to join in the ritual of metamorphosis of grapes into wine.

The team then developed a unique mixture of Marche soil from the vineyard and glue to create a golden clay, which when dried after dripping, forms a seal that enfolds the bottle form, bringing a unique ageing method to life in a tactile and visual way, to intrigue and delight the senses. Celebrating the deeper bond that Cielo Sommerso has with its land, by carrying a piece of it with every bottle.