“Stilèma” Greco di Tufo Riserva DOCG 2019

Mastroberardino | Campania
Mastroberardino S.p.A. | Via Manfredi 75/81 | IT 83042 Atripalda

13011519 · 0,75 l · 52,00 €/l · Price (DE) incl. VAT, excl. Shippingavailable immediately

A name carries weight when it is the programme. Stilèma – derived from "Stile" and the name Mastroberardino – is not a marketing term, but a commitment. It was Antonio Mastroberardino, known as the "archaeologist of vineyards", who began digging in the early 2000s: experimental projects, selection of pre-phylloxeric clones, revision of all protocols in the vineyard and cellar. His goal was not a new style – it was a return to a lost one. The great white wines of Irpinia from the 1970s and 1980s had a density, a texture, a depth that later decades could not match. Stilèma was not intended to preserve this memory, but to translate it into the present.

Today Piero Mastroberardino – winemaker, poet, painter, professor of economics – continues this legacy with the same seriousness. Three vineyards, three soils, one goal. Montefusco, Tufo and Petruro Irpino – the vineyards of Stilèma-Greco lie on Franco-clayey soils over sandstone and marl, with a significant proportion of limestone, which give the wine what Irpinia is famous for: acidity, freshness, verticality, elegance. In the cellar, the wine is given time that has become rare today: malolactic fermentation, part of it in wood for twelve months, the rest in stainless steel on the lees for 18 months – density and consistency that cannot be forced, but only allowed to develop.

The 2019 shows what Greco di Tufo can be if you trust it. The colour: deep straw yellow with golden reflections. The nose: ripe fruit – lychee, grapefruit, yellow plum – interwoven with yellow flowers, dried fruit, damp stone, oysters and a smoky, mineral depth reminiscent of the sulphurous soils of Tufo. Decisive yet agile on the palate with a pronounced salinity and surprising freshness. Finesse instead of heaviness. The finish: subtle, long, with a persistence that lingers for minutes after the last sip. Greco di Tufo is one of the few white varieties in Campania that can age beautifully. Stilèma Greco is proof that Irpinia has not yet shown everything. SUPERIORE.DE

"Seductive notes of Mediterranean scrub and green apples, sage and dried limes; pithy on the palate, the acidity is lively, finely tart and with a fine finish to the flavours of stone fruit and flowers. Convinces with its complexity." Vinum

"Pale straw yellow with greenish edges. Inviting aroma of grapefruit, tropical fruit and flint on the nose. Very fresh and juicy on the palate, great citrus fruit, drinky with a salty finish." Falstaff

"A lively, minerally white wine with smoky, stony and petrol notes underlining a lovely palette of baked pineapple, tangerine peel, crushed rosemary and almond cream flavours. It's fluid and integrated, but with a statuesque feel as the well-balanced acidity supports the slightly chalky finish." Wine Spectator

"The 2019 Greco di Tufo Riserva Stiléma already shows the added definition and complexity that comes with bottle age on the nose, with dusty flint and chalk. The slightly reduced character of the wine forms the basis for a slow aromatic development in the glass, giving the bouquet a flowing, slowly changing character. There is citrus fruit, passion fruit and a dry note of lemon thyme or oregano. But these mineral flint notes are dominant." Wine Advocate

"A complex and flavoursome wine with aromas of ferns, seaweed, peat, mirabelle plums and a hint of citrus. Nervous on the palate with a light to medium body, it shows zesty acidity, supple fruit flavours and a smoky citrus finish. Juicy." James Suckling

"The Greco di Tufo Riserva Stilema 2019 seduces the imagination with a bouquet of yellow apples, ginger spice and crushed oyster shells that is very flavoursome. Soft and enveloping, it washes over the palate with a mineral wave of fruit and sour citrus. It leaves a salty aftertaste and finishes long, spotty and youthfully tense. This wine is simply stunning, even though it's still a toddler. What a beauty." Vinous

"The nose is the intoxication of a teenager on a summer night, when the innocent aromas of vanilla, lemon and roasted nuts are left behind in favour of cigarette smoke, leather jackets and hot asphalt. On the palate, however, one refuses to leave childhood behind completely, as the afternoon snacks of apples and almonds lead to a deep and toasty finish. At first glance, it could pass for a Burgundy." Wine Enthusiast