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This March the May Institute https://www.mayinstitute.org and I will be hosting “A Taste of Southern Italy” in grateful recognition of individuals who support the May Institute. It will be a social evening of wine and extra virgin olive oil paired with hors d’oeuvre.

There will be 19 different wines and 7 different extra virgin olive oils featured at the tasting. My wife and I have visited all but one of the vineyards/groves; most of the wine and extra virgin olive oil are made in an eco-friendly manner and many of the producers are certified organic or biodynamic.

There will be three sessions for the evening. For early arrivals, before 6:00 pm there will be an apertivo of wine and cheese. From 6:00 to 6;30/6:45 there will be a formal tasting of five wines. I will be co-presenting with David Gansler, a certified Level 3 Specialist from the Wine Spirits Education Trust; who is currently enrolled in the Level 4 program. The last session of one and one-half hours will feature five tables of wine and one table of extra virgin olive oil from several areas of Southern Italy: wines are from Campania, Basilicata and Calabria, and extra virgin olive oils are from Campania, Calabria and Sicilia. Here is a list of the products to be tasted:

Apertivo

Spumante La Matta 2016, fiano, Azienda Agricola Casebianche, Torchiara, Salerno,  Campania – a sparkling wine from the Cilento area of Salerno (south of the Amalfi Coast and the City of Salerno). This is a natural wine; no sulfites, sugar or yeasts are added. The only sulfites in the wine naturally occur; sulfites are 8 parts per million {“ppm”). To provide perspective: USA allows up to 350 ppm of sulfites to be added to wine. Organic producers are allowed to add sulfites; but  per USA standards sulfites in organic wines cannot exceed 100 ppm, though most organic producers are far below the standard. White wine has more sulfites than red (the presence of tannins in red wines limits the need for sulfites).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zer05 2014, primitivo, Cantine Regina Viarum, Falciano del Massico, Caserta, Campania – an organic wine produced by Elda Maddalena and her husband Pasquale Angelino along with their daughter Amalia in the ancient wine area known as Falerum. During the Roman Empire wine from Falerum reached mythical status. The wine is made from primitivo grapes from vines over 100 years old. There are only a few wineries in the Region of Campania that make wine exclusively with the primitivo grape as primitivo based wine is more closely associated with the Region of Puglia. Regina Viarum has an annual production of 18,000 bottles.

 

 

 

 

 

Formal Wine Tasting

Il Fric 2016, aglianico, Azienda Agricola Casebianche, Torchiara, Salerno, Campania – a sparkling/frizzante secco wine from the same area and produced in the same manner as Spumante La Matta. The husband/wife combination of Pasquale Mitrano and Elisabetta Iuorio moved from Naples to assume ownership of Elisabetta’s father’s vineyard in the late 1990s. They have an annual production of about 30,000 bottles.

 

 

Damis Ciro’ Riserva 2012, gaglioppo, Azienda Vitivinicola Du Cropio di Giuseppe Ippolito, Ciro’ Marina, Crotone, Calabria – a red wine from the middle of Calabria and a short distance from the Ionian Sea. This is one of four organically produced wines from Calabria which are part of the tasting. There are no chemical interventions (pesticides), only natural interventions, in the vineyard. Gaglioppo based wines are not well-known, but over time they should achieve more international acclaim. Guiseppe Ippolito has an annual production of around 65,000 bottles; one of the larger producers in this tasting.

 

 

 

 

Ragis Rosso 2011, 80% aglianico and 20% piedirosso, Le Vigne Di Raito, Raito – Vietri Sul Mare, Salerno, Campania – a red blend wine from the eastern most part of the Amalfi Coast less than a quarter-mile of the Bay of Salerno. Patrizia Malanga founded Le Vigne Di Raito in 2001. The wines are certified 100% biological/biodynamic.  A perfectionist, Patrizia did not produce wine in 2014 because she determined that the fermented juice was not of high quality.  This is the smallest producer in the tasting with less than 5,000 bottles produced per year.

 

 

 

Terra di Lavoro Roccamonfino IGT 2014, 80% aglianico and 20% piedirosso, Galardi srl Azienda Agricola Biologica, San Carlo – Sessa Aurunca, Caserta, Campania – a red blend from northern Campania located near Mt. Roccamonfino, an extant volcano. Four cousins produce about 33,000 bottles of this  organic wine per annum. Contrast this volcanic-influenced wine with the Amalfi Coast influenced Ragis – both have the same percentage of  blended grapes.

 

 

 

 

 

Piancastelli Terre del Volturno IGT 2013, 70% pallagrello and 30% casavecchia, Terre del Principe Societa’ Agricola, Castel Campagnano, Caserta, Campania – a red blend of two long forgotten grapes revived by the owners Peppe Mancini and Manuela Piancastelli. There are less than 10 wineries in the world that produce red wines exclusively with these two grapes. Terre del Principe is certified organic. Peppe and Manuela started the winery in 2003. Up until last year the annual production was about 55,000 bottles per year; they have downsized and now have an annual production of approximately 18,000 bottles.

 

 

 

 

 

Tasting at Tables

Table One – Bottles from Formal Tasting

Table Two – Taurasi

Perillo Riserva 2006, aglianico, Azienda Agricola Perillo, Castelfranci, Avellino, Campania – a Taurasi produced from vines that are 600 m above sea level. Per Perillo’s importer Jan D’Amore the grapes benefit from extreme temperature swings between night and day which allows the grapes to ripen slowly and steadily thus safeguarding perfumes and acidity even in the torrid weather of the South. Michele Perillo started the commercial production of wine in 1999. Along with his wife and two sons, Michele produces about 18,000 bottles of wine in a cantina that is an over-sized garage.

 

 

 

Vigne Cinque Querce 2008, aglianico, Azienda Vitivincola Salvatore Molettieri, Montemarano, Avellino, Campania – a Taurasi produced from vines that are 600m above seal level. Salvatore Molettieri started the winery in 1983; the first in the Taurasi wine area to stop selling family grown grapes to the internationally renowned Mastroberardino winery. Salvatore paved the way for families to follow his lead and start producing their own wine. With his wife and four sons Salvatore produces on an annual basis between 65,000 to 70,000 bottles.

 

 

 

Antico Castello 2010 Riserva, aglianico, Societa’ Agricola Antico Castello s.a.s. di Romano Francesco e Chiara, San Mango sul Calore, Avellino, Campania – a brother/sister combination produce their Taurasi in a large modern cellar capable of vinifying more than their annual production of 40,000 bottles. Francesco and Chiara lease their excess capacity to other small local producers who do not have a cantina. A winery classified as sustainable; the Romano family has been commercially producing wine for eleven years.

 

 

Table Three – Aglianico del Vulture

Titolo 2013, aglianico, Azienda Agricola Elena Fucci, Barile, Potenza, Basilicata – Elena with her husband Andrea Manzani produce 18,000 bottles; all Titolo.  Elena’s grandfather Generoso purchased the vineyard in the late 1960s; Elena produced the estate’s first vintage in 2000. The wine is vinified in a new eco-friendly cantina; a remarkable building that optimizes the use of natural  products and resources. Titolo, an organic wine, is a perennial three glass award winner in the Italian wine guide Gambero Rosso.

 

 

 

Canneto 2006, aglianico, Casa Vinicola D’Angelo, Rionero in Vulture, Potenza, Basilicata – the brother/sister combination of Rocco and Erminia D’Angelo are the stewards of D’Angelo; the oldest independent winery in the Vulture wine area. In operation for nearly 100 years, D’Angelo is the largest producer in Vulture (as well as at this tasting) with an annual production of 300,000 bottles. Not surprisingly,  they have the most diverse portfolio of wines in Vulture.

 

 

Le Drude 2007, aglianico, Azienda Agricola Michele Laluce, Ginestra, Potenza, Basilicata – the father/daughter combination of Michele and Maddalena have an annual organic production of 40,000  bottles of wine. As are the grapes used to produce Titolo and Canneto, the grapes to produce Le Drude are grown in volcanic soil. The Laluce family has been bottling  wine since 2001 and similar to Elena Fucci and D’Angelo, the Laluce family is most welcoming to visitors.

 

 

 

Table Four – Ciro’ Marina e Strongoli

Dattilo Val di Neto 2011, gaglioppo, Societa’ Agricola Roberto Ceraudo s.r.l., Strongoli, Crotone, Calabria – Roberto produces both wine and extra virgin olive oil (see below). Thirty years ago Roberto nearly died from an accident in the vineyard involving pesticides. Since then he has grown and processed his grapes and olives with no chemical intervention. Roberto’s farm is certified organic and his goal is to return his vineyard to its natural state of 100 years ago when there were no machines. His belief is that beneficial pests, herbs and animals will return to enhance the natural viticulture. He has an annual production of about 70,000 bottles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ciro’ Riserva ‘A Vita 2011, gaglioppo, Vigna De Franco s.r.l. Societa’ Agricola, Ciro’ Marina, Crotone, Calabria – husband/wife Francesco and Laura Maria de Franco produce less than 15,000 bottles each year. There are no chemical interventions in the vineyard or in the vinification of the wine. The grapes are fermented spontaneously without temperature control, decanted naturally with only a trace of sulfites added. The wines are certified organic and Francesco is one of the leading natural wine producers in Italy.

 

 

 

 

Ciro’ Riserva 2013, gaglioppo, Cataldo Calabretta Viticolore, Ciro’ Marina, Crotone, Calabria – ten years ago Cataldo converted his family’s winemaking to adhere to organic methods. He also repaired 400-year-old cement tanks, in which the wine ages after fermentation in steel tanks. Cataldo Calabretta with an annual production of about 30,000 wines is certified organic and along with his close friend Francesco de Franco is part of the youth movement in natural Calabrian winemaking.

 

 

 

 

Table Five – White Wine from Campania

Terra D’Uva 2016, greco di tufo, Azienda Agricola Benito Ferrara, Tufo, Avellino, Campania – Gabriella Ferrara and her husband Sergio Ambrosino direct the company started by Gabriella’s father Benito in 1991. The winery is considered one of the premier producers of Greco di Tufo. The greco di tufo vineyards are located in the frazione of San Paolo. Benito Ferrara also produces Taurasi and Aglianico IGT wines made with grapes from vineyards in Montemiletto. Gabriella has an annual production of about 55,000 bottles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fiano di Baal 2014, fiano, Casa di Baal Azienda Agricola, Montecorvino, Salerno, Campania – the patriarch of the Salerno family, Annibale, along with his father purchased the Casa di Baal farm in 1976. Originally, the farm produced extra virgin olive oil (see below), fruits and vegetables; Casa di Baal started the production of wine in 2006. Casa di Baal is organic and uses natural methods of protecting grapes in the vineyard. For instance, they have bee hives; the bees are predators of an invasive parasite that attack grapes that split in the heat. Once the parasite is eliminated the grapes self-heal. Casa di Baal has an annual production of about 25,000 bottles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aliseo Tramonti Costa d’ Amalfi 2016, biancolella (50%), biancazita (40%) and pepella (10%), Azienda Agricola Reale Andrea Soc. Coop., Gete – Tramonti, Salerno, Campania –  nestled in the mountains on the Amalfi Coast this cantina, headed by Luigi Reale and assisted by his brother Gaetano, produce no more than 11,000 wines per annum from grapes indigenous to the Amalfi Coast. Some grapes, however, are also grown elsewhere in Southern Italy such as the biancazita grape which is known as falanghina in Benevento, Avellino and Napoli. Reale, which also operates an osteria, is organic.

 

 

 

 

Table Six – Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Avellino/Irpinia

Case d’Alto Coevo Raceve, ravece olive, Grottaminarda, Avellino, Campania

Case d’Alto Coevo Italiano, lecchino, frantoio and ravece olives, Grottaminarda, Avellino, Campania

Salerno

Milavuolo, DOP Colline Salernitane, rotondella , frantoio, and carapellese (greater than 65%) and ogliarda and lecchino (no greater than 20%) olives, Battipaglia, Salerno, Campania

L’Oliveto (Casa di Baal/Salerno family), frontoio, rotondella and lecchino olives, Montecorvino Rovella, Salerno, Campania

Calabria

Roberto Ceraudo, tondo di Calabria olive, Marina di Strongoli, Crotone, Calabria

Tre Olive, (Dianto), carolea (90%) and nicastrese (10%) olives, Feroleto Antico, Catanzaro, Calabria

Sicilia

Gurrieri, (Azienda Agricola Battaglia Graziella) Tonda Iblea, tonda iblea olive, Cosimo, Ragusa, Sicilia