Wines from Campania

The project aims to highlight the link between the vines, the wines and their territorial origins. The Mastroberardino family wants to recreate the style of winemaking of the indigenous grape varieties of Irpinia (Greco, Fiano and Aglianico) that took place between the late 1950s and early 1970s for the Taurasi and between 1970 and 1980 for the two white wines from Irpinia. It is the unmistakable style (the stilèma) of a family that has interpreted the natural heritage of its territory over generations and that today impressively emphasises the genuine character of the terroir, which by no means can be expressed through high concentration and intensity alone.

Serpico is Feudi di San Gregorio's flagship wine – a grand, monumental Aglianico made from vines over 150 years old in the legendary single vineyard "Dal Re" in Sorbo Serpico. The vineyard is situated on mineral soils of volcanic origin and is cultivated with great care by hand. 2016 was a year of moderate conditions, with a cool spring, a perfect ripening period in late summer and a late, selective harvest in October – ideal conditions for a wine of depth and balance.

Bright, powerful ruby colour, aromas of cherry, redcurrant, cocoa and tar. Juicy, spicy and bright, with firm acidity and taut tannins that give it definition and lift to the flavours. Very fresh and precise, persistent and smooth. It has outstanding potential. If you taste the decades-old wines from Mastroberardino (dating back to 1928), it becomes clear: these wines are monumental, immortal or at least for eternity. SUPERIORE.DE

I Viaggiatori is a particularly finely woven Aglianico. Its grapes come from almost 200-year-old open-air vineyards with vines that are already over a hundred years old. The Paternopoli area, one of the highest areas of the Taurasi Valley, lies in the green heart of Irpina. The cool, continental climate here allows the Aglianico to ripen very slowly and thus retain its fresh and extremely elegant profile.

Luigi Moio, one of Italy's most renowned professors of oenology, founded Quintodecimo with a clear conviction: every wine should trace its origins back to the vineyard that produced it, in order to express the concept of terroir in its purest form. Whilst the estate's two Taurasi Riserva wines – Vigna Quintodecimo and Vigna Grande Cerzito – each come from a single plot, the Terra d'Eclano takes a different approach: it is crafted from five different vineyards owned by the estate, planted exclusively with Aglianico. The final blend is decided anew each year, depending on what the individual plots have to offer in that particular vintage. These five plots are deliberately varied: south-east, south-west and north-west-facing, some on clay soils, others on volcanic soils. The harvest takes place late, in the second to third ten-day period of October – the Aglianico requires patience to reach its full phenolic ripeness.

Riccardo Dalisi worked with iron, copper and brass – with the humble materials of craftsmanship, to which he lent an archaic, almost sacred dignity through his sensitivity. He received the Compasso d’Oro twice: in 1981 for his coffee pot, and in 2014 for his social commitment. Feudi di San Gregorio owns two of his works. From this enduring connection, an idea emerged: the coloured glass mosaic ‘S.T.’ from 1990 – deep blue, vibrantly colourful, imbued with that effervescent energy that defines Dalisi’s signature style – adorns this bottle. No decorative label. A close dialogue between artist and wine.

The grapes for the rare Naturalis Historia come from a 50-year-old vineyard located 400 metres above sea level with deep, sandy soils of volcanic origin in Mirabella. Deep, sparkling dark red colour. Redcurrant, sweet spices and aromas of dark plums and red cherries on the nose. Perfectly structured on the palate with well-balanced pressure and a full body that is never broad, but fresh, supple and very agile, leading to a harmonious, long-lasting final. An outstanding Aglianico that is already delicious to drink now, but will also age wonderfully. SUPERIORE.DE

Between 23 and 29 September 2024, JR roamed seven districts of Naples. Seven days, seven neighbourhoods, 606 portraits. The photographer and street artist JR – born in 1983, known for his monumental black-and-white installations in public spaces around the world – had chosen Italy for the first time for the eighth instalment of his Chronicles series. And with Naples, the city with the most complex, contradictory and yet most beautiful identity in the country. The question he posed: Chi sei, Napoli?

It all began with friendship and a spirit of experimentation: in the mid-1980s, when a group of wine lovers led by the photographer Silvia Imparato began their first experiments at the family vineyard in the Campania hinterland. One of these friends was Riccardo Cotarella, now one of Italy's most famous Oenologist. In 1991, the first bottle of a wine was produced that would soon go down in history as the "Sassicaia of the South" – a title bestowed upon it by Robert Parker in 1995 and one that still resonates today. The vineyard is situated in the Monti Picentini Regional Park near San Cipriano Picentino, just a few kilometres from Salerno. The five hectares of vineyards lie at an altitude of 100 metres in the shadow of a medieval castle, surrounded by oak, chestnut and citrus groves. The medium-textured soils with a high proportion of coarse material, the south-west-facing aspect and the shelter provided by the Picentini Mountains create a microclimate where Mediterranean mildness meets cool nights.

What begins with a seductive bouquet of delicate plums and a hint of mint gains volume and depth as grilled sage and rum-soaked blackcurrants mingle with sweet tobacco and allspice. Its texture is silky and fleshy, accompanied by a nervous acidity, while ripe black cherries and a hint of cranberry sauce create a sweet and sour tension on the palate. The concentration is astonishing, yet the energy remains incredibly high, even if the grippy tannins increase towards the end. Notes of sour citrus fruits, savoury herbs and tart wild berries linger incredibly long in the structured yet remarkably fresh final. Only around 3,000 bottles of this cru are produced and it is a real must-have for all Aglianico lovers! SUPERIORE.DE

Feudi di San Gregorio's DUBL project was born in 2004 out of an awareness of the great richness of the indigenous vines of the Irpinia region and the desire to open up new horizons for them: as Metodo Classico Spumante or by means of the famous Méthode Champenoise. A consultant was quickly found for this - none other than Anselme Selosse, who is known for his champagnes and his flair for the specialities of the vines and vineyards.

There are houses that ask themselves a single question. Not: What else can we do? But rather: How well can we do one thing? Galardi, at the foot of the extinct Roccamonfina volcano in northern Campania, has been producing exactly one wine since 1994. Just one. Year after year. The location is exceptional: south-west exposure at 500 metres, volcanic soil of silt, clay and rock, rich in mineral salts from two eras of volcanic activity – leucite lava and basalt, superimposed and weathered over hundreds of thousands of years. Chestnut woods, olive groves, underground springs that never dry up, even in dry years. The sea breezes from the Gulf of Gaeta provide natural climate control. 80% Aglianico, 20% Piedirosso – the legitimate natives of this region. Fermentation with skin contact for 20 days, pumping over twice daily, malolactic fermentation in steel, twelve months ageing in French barriques (40% new, 60% second and third passage), then a further twelve months in bottle.

2022 was the year of the drought. Not the first, not the last – but one that told its own story at Roccamonfina. Week after week without rain, soils as yellow as straw under the sun. And yet: the springs in the volcanic rock never dried up. The soil that Galardi works holds water deep beneath the stones, invisible and inexhaustible. Allegra Selvaggi, who runs the estate today, described this vintage with Monet – not the motif, but the air around it. The multicoloured landscape despite the drought. The beauty that arises when a terroir is stronger than the weather.

Pàtrimo is no ordinary southern Italian. Vinified purely from Merlot, this exceptional wine comes from ancient, ungrafted vines that Feudi di San Gregorio once discovered at high altitudes in Irpinia – a viticultural rarity and the foundation of one of Italy's most iconic red wines. Deep dark ruby colour with a violet rim in the glass. The bouquet shows Merlot in an unusual, Mediterranean way: Black cherry, ripe plum, liquorice and rosemary, underpinned by mocha, tobacco leaf, vanilla and graphite. Structured and opulent on the palate, but never overloaded: velvety tannins, extract-rich fruit, dark spice and a hint of balsamic freshness that balances the richness. The long ageing in new French barriques lends the wine noblesse without putting it in uniform.

Almost a decade lies between the harvest of this wine and its release. This is no exception for a Taurasi Riserva, but rather the rule: 24 months in barriques, at least a further 30 months in the bottle before release, and then several more years in the cellar until the wine is truly ready. The 2017 vintage has had this time. It comes from the Piano di Montevergine, the most iconic vineyard of the Feudi di San Gregorio estate – an area where vines have always grown amongst hazelnut and olive trees, as has characterised Irpinia’s agriculture for generations. Taurasi, a DOCG since 1993, is regarded as Campania's most serious red wine appellation, grown on volcanic soils in the shadow of the Montevergine massif. One hundred% Aglianico, a grape variety that requires precisely this long ageing period to integrate its tannic structure.

The project aims to highlight the link between the vines, the wines and their territorial origins. The Mastroberardino family wants to recreate the style of winemaking of the indigenous grape varieties of Irpinia (Greco, Fiano and Aglianico) that took place between the late 1950s and early 1970s for the Taurasi and between 1970 and 1980 for the two white wines from Irpinia. It is the unmistakable style (the stilèma) of a family that has interpreted the natural heritage of its territory over generations and that today impressively emphasises the genuine character of the terroir, which by no means can be expressed through high concentration and intensity alone.

There are wines that are more than just wines – they are statements of intent. When Luigi Moio created his Grande Cuvée after twenty years of tireless work in the vineyards of Irpinia, he produced not only his flagship white wine, but a testament to his philosophy. This exceptional blend of 40% Greco di Tufo, 40% Fiano di Avellino and 20% Falanghina brings together Campania's three great indigenous grape varieties in a composition of rare harmony and complexity. The Greco comes from the finest plot of the Giallo d'Arles vineyard in Tufo, where marl-sand soils with a high clay content and valuable limestone deposits at an altitude of 400 metres create ideal conditions. The Fiano is selected from the finest plots of the Exultet vineyard in Lapio – here, at an altitude of 600 metres, porous layers of lapilli permeate the clay-rich subsoil, ensuring a constant water supply to the vines. Finally, the Falanghina thrives on the loose, clay-rich soils of the mid-slopes of Mirabella Eclano, where the west-facing aspect ensures optimal ripening conditions.

One may wonder whether Luigi Moio is a professor wearing a winemaker's hat or a winemaker wearing a professor's hat. His vintage presentations are academic in tone, his tasting room is run with the rigour of a lecture theatre, and his vineyards are planted according to criteria that only a mathematician or scholar could fully understand. Quintodecimo's winemaking philosophy, on the other hand, is relatively simple. The best vineyard sites are selected for each individual wine. Soils, sites and microclimates are researched with great care. Nothing is taken for granted.

Bright, powerful ruby colour, aromas of cherry, redcurrant, cocoa and tar. Juicy, spicy and bright, with firm acidity and taut tannins that give it definition and lift to the flavours. Very fresh and precise, persistent and smooth. It has outstanding potential. If you taste the decades-old wines from Mastroberardino (dating back to 1928), it becomes clear: these wines are monumental, immortal or at least for eternity. SUPERIORE.DE

Serpico is Feudi di San Gregorio's flagship wine – a grand, monumental Aglianico made from vines over 150 years old, grown in the legendary single vineyard "Dal Re" in Sorbo Serpico. The vineyard is situated on mineral soils of volcanic origin and is cultivated with great care by hand. 2016 was a year of moderate conditions, with a cool spring, a perfect ripening period in late summer and a late, selective harvest in October – ideal conditions for a wine of depth and balance.