On the final day of our trip we visited our good friends, first at Le Vigne Di Raito and later at Terre del Principe. We have visited, had tastings and dinners at both wineries on several occasions over the past five years. Today was scheduled to be a quick visit over a cup of coffee, but you know how it goes in the South.

Le Vigne Di Raito

We were looking forward to viewing Patrizia Malanga’s new cantina which was completed in time for her to start this year’s fermentation and aging. We were not disappointed. The cantina is well-designed and includes areas for fermentation, aging, packaging and a small laboratory that Patrizia uses to measure the PH, acidity and sugar in the aging wine. Patrizia has also

incorporated old ceramic tiles into the cantina’s decor. The patio off the cantina features  spectualar views of the Gulf of Salerno; views that have been described in an earlier article (September 11, 2015).

Le Vigne Di Raito is certified organic. Patrizia minimizes “stress” on the grapes as she uses a “soft press” method. She uses a special low stress pump to transfer the juice from the fermentation tanks to smaller tanks and barrels. The piedirosso and aglianico grapes are fermented and aged differently. After the soft press, agliancio is placed directly into wood barrels which requires Patrizia to “battinage” the aglianico wine juice. Piedirosso is fermented in stainless steel. Patrizia decides each year whether to age piedirosso in steel or wood; no decision had been made for this year at the time of our visit.

Patrizia, like other winemakers, incorporates new wood barrels in the aging process. She has some of the wine age in new barrels and others in older barrels referred to as second passage, third passage, etc. Each passage generally equates to a year. We contrasted the smell of wine aging in two barrels and noted the stronger wood influence on the smell from the new barrel when compared to that from the second passage barrel. Patrizia, perfectionist and artist, will not produce wine unless she is satisfied with the quality of the grapes. Last year was a difficult harvest and instead of producing wine with what she assessed to be inferior grapes, she opted to sell her grapes to other producers and “sit out” the 2014 vintage.

We concluded our visit with coffee, cake, and conversation overlooking the Gulf of Salerno and walking through the quaint alley ways of the frazione of Raito – bellisimo!

Terre del Principe

It is only fitting that we concluded our trip, which included visits to 21 wineries, with a visit to Terre del Principe. As noted in my September 3, 2015 article, Terre del Principe sparked my passion for Southern Italian wine and food. Manuela Piancastelli and Peppe Mancini treated us with a tasting of the most recent available vintage of Piancastelli – a wine that my family (in particular my Mother) can never seem to get enough of. Note that for the 2010 vintage Terre del Principe changed the name the wine from “Vigna Piancastelli” to “Piancastelli”.  Terre del Principe completed its harvest in late September.  Manuela and Peppe feel that this year’s harvest is superior to last year’s.

We noted that the Piancastelli wine (which is a 70%-30% blend of the pallagrello nero and casavecchia grapes) not only is a fabulous tasting wine, but also has beautiful labels designed by different artists. The winery’s website explains the philosophy and history of the labels. I encourage the reader to review at terredelprincipe.com.

We had a relaxing afternoon catching up on our families, discussing the wine scene in Italy and the USA, and engaging in other conversation. We have had a busy and somewhat exhausting trip and it was nice to conclude our trip with visits with such good friends.

Ci vediamo prossimo anno!