Azienda Agricola Andrea Reale
I have visited Azienda Agricola Andrea Reale four times over the past five years. The winery, which is operated by Luigi Reale, is located in the mountains of the Amalfi Coast frazione of Gete in the town of Tramonti. The vineyards have been owned by the Reale family for over a century. Some vines are more than 80 years old; the thick vine in the photo below is over 130 years old.
The phylloxera aphid insect that destroyed many vines in France and Italy in the mid to late 1800’s did not impact Reale’s vines. Luigi is not sure why. It may have been the soil, which like that of many wine areas in Campania has been enriched by volcanic ash over the centuries, or it could have been Reale’s remote location.
During one of our visits Luigi’s brother, Gaetano, explained the difference between the talea and marza vine growth systems. The talea system involves planting an existing vine in the ground to cause a new growth to emerge, creating a new plant. This is similar to plant propagation by stem cuttings. With the marza system, the root of an existing vine is planted (usually an American root because American roots are impervious to phylloxera) and a vine of a different grape variety is attached or grafted to this root. Reale uses the talea system because Reale’s vines, as noted above, were not adversely impacted by phylloxera. As a result many of Reale’s vines are not grafted, unlike most vines in France and Italy.
Reale is certified organic. There is minimal non-natural intervention; chemicals and machinery are not used in the vineyard. The vines are supported by wooden branch “poles” made from chestnut trees. The vine branches are supported by material from salice plants that are grown in the vineyard, not by rope or twine. At harvest the grapes are hand-picked. Although it is time-consuming, Luigi takes immense pride in his old-fashioned way of cultivating his grapes.
In keeping with local practice, Luigi’s wines are made from indigenous grapes. His family revived the ancient tintore grape, much in the same manner that Terre del Principe revived the casavecchia and
pallagrello grapes (see blog article September 3, 2015). The tintore grape, like many other grapes from Southern Italy, was originally used as a blending grape for wines in parts of Northern Italy to deepen color or strengthen structure. Reale, like many families from Southern Italy, decided to stop sending grapes north and to start producing wines from its indigenous grapes. Reale also makes wines with the per’ e’ palummo (red grape that is the Amalfi Coast expression of the piedirosso grape) and the biancazita, biancolella and pepella grapes (white grapes). Reale wines have been available for public purchase only since 2002.
Adjacent to Reale’s property is St. Michael the Archangel, a small historic church, originally built in the 5th century. Originally named St. Mark, the name was changed
in the 1500s. The church has an area where the priests performed the middle ages practice of “bloodletting” to the sick. This gruesome practice resulted in blood spilled throughout with no positive outcomes. Today mass is celebrated every Sunday (sans bloodletting!). From time to time the church will host weddings – small ones because no more than 75 people can comfortably fit in the church. Think destination wedding!
Also adjacent to the Reale property is an award-winning crèche prepared by “gli anni del presepi”. The group consists of local children and young adults of Gete. The crèche won
the first annual competition in the Tramonti area several years ago.
Luigi operates a small bed and breakfast and osteria on the property; he is an acclaimed chef as he has been featured on Italian television for his culinary skills. Luigi hosts a pizza-making class at the osteria. After completing our tours we relaxed for lunch and wine tasting on a patio overlooking the sun splashed hills of Tramonti (see photo at top of post – Angela with mountains behind her). The food served is grown on Reale’s property or produced locally. On one tour we had an antipasti of ricotta flavored with lime, cheeses, sausage, salami and prosciutto type meat, vegetables cooked in a timbale (molded form). The first course was fusilli with sausage and broccoli. The second course was a choice of eggplant parmesan and anchovy, thinly cut pork with a slight tomato based influence and potato, or rabbit with dried tomatoes and black olives. For dessert we had chocolate mousse. On a subsequent tour we had an appetizer of lightly fried sausage and zucchini, sauteed escarole, and sopprasetta, capicolo and dried sausage. The first course was a timbale of green beans and potatoes. The second course was fusilli with hot sausage in a ragu sauce. The third course consisted of rabbit, broccoli, cheese and pepper. We passed on dessert, but did have Napoli café (espresso).
The food on both occasions was paired with Reale wines. We started with Aliseo 2010, a white wine that is a blend of the biancazita, biancolella and pepella grapes. Our second wine was Cardamone 2008, a blend of the per’ e’ palummo and tintore grapes. Our third and last wine was Borgo di Gete 2008, made only with the tintore grape. The Aliseo was crisp and had a long finish with bouquet of flowers. Cardamone was balanced and less intense as the per’ e’ palummo grape tamed the fury of the tintore grape. Borgo di Gete was powerful and earthy with an intense bouquet.
This past October I had a Sunday lunch at the osteria. See the blog published October 19, 2015 entitled “Amalfi Coast and Salerno Day Nine”.
Cardamone and Aliseo wines are available for purchase from Federal Wine and Spirits http://www.federalwine.com or by contacting importer Nick Mucci http://www.mucciimports.com
