The most important event on Italian wine after Vinitaly staged in these days in Castel dell’Ovo, the “living room” of the city of Naples. As always attentive to all that is quality, we at Ritmodivino were at the forefront. And we’ll tell you what we discovered.
The numbers
250 cellars, 3000 different labels and 30 buyers.
These are the numbers for the 2018 edition of Vitigno Italia, the review of Italian wine-growing areas, held every year in the good living room of the city of Naples, in Castel dell’Ovo.
In the old fortress of Norman origin, a prominent element of the panorama of the Gulf of Naples, completely surrounded by the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea, we of Ritmodivino went hunting for novelty.
As expected, we were not disappointed at all.
The Visit: Pavilion A
Our visit began in hall A. After the unfailing greeting to our dear friend Salvatore Martusciello, who once again delighted us with his wines, we started the tour of the rooms, in an ideal up and down from North to South.
One of the first emotions was that of the MONTALBERA winery , 160 hectares of vineyards in the magnificent panorama of Piedmontese Langhe.
Owned by the Morando family, the company produces all the typical wines of the Piedmont area, from the Ruche di Castagnole Monferrato to the Barolo, passing through the Grignolino and the gret Barbera d’Asti, worthy of a special mention.
From the north we moved to the south with the Sicilian company FIRRIATO . Firriato is based in Paceco, in the province of Trapani. Firriato offers nectars from the most typical and traditional Sicilian vines, from Nero d’Avola to Grillo. We tasted the award-winning Quater Vitis, obtained from Nero d’Avola, Perricone, Frappato and Nerello, as well as the Harmonium. The latter is Nero d’Avola in purity, and is one of the company’s flagship products.
A passito zibibbo closes the taste, an ideal companion to a fresh Cassata or a cannoli.
After Firriato we return to Campania Region. We introduce ourselves to the Caserta based company VESTINI CAMPAGNARO , which specializes itself in the processing of the local grapes Pallagrello and Casavecchia. The wine of Campagnaro that most impressed us was the Pallagrello Bianco. Fresh, sapid and rich in taste, it is an ideal wine to drink in summer.
We promise to the producers that we will visit them very soon in the cellar for an artistic and musical combination, then we move on to the next pavilion, the B.
The visit: Pavilion B
Pavilion B hosts some of Irpine’s excellences such as Villa Matilde, the Consorzio Tutela Vini d’Irpinia and Tenuta Cavalier Pepe, but not only.
We start the visit by saying goodbye to Milena Pepe from the homonymous estate. We try the top wine of the company, the Taurasi marketed under the name of La Loggia del Cavaliere, from the TENUTA CAVALIER PEPE . Wine with a very lively color, lively and fresh, is a Taurasi DOCG that seems to have just been vinified. An excellent product, a true story of the lands of Irpinia that Milena has collected in a cru.
From Tenuta Pepe you pass to the FEUDO SPADA , an Umbrian company that also collaborates with SAN SALVATORE 1988, a company based in Paestum, in the province of Salerno. Their grechetto Umbria IGT is very fresh and ready to drink, but what particularly surprises us is their red wine based on Viognier and Syrah. A wine with a purple color and aromas of spices and undergrowth.
Upstairs: pavilion G
After visiting the Feudo Spada, go upstairs and continue the tour with pavilion G.
We stop to meet the producers of MALVAZIJA ISTRIANA . We explain to them about our work made of wine and music and then we taste their flagship product, in two versions: the first, of 2017, is a wine with a marked acidity and minerality. The 2016 version presents, instead, with a lower acidity and therefore a greater roundness, due to a short aging in wood.
Another nice discovery was the CANTINA PRODUTTORI SAN PAOLO. Based in Appiano, in Trentino Alto Adige, the winery has delighted us with a really good Yellow Muscat. A very pleasant and fragrant wine, to be drunk at any time of the day. Maybe in a boat, surrounded by sea water. We then taste a sparkling wine PRAECLARUS BRUT, a distinctive product, characterized by a good acidity and fragrance. Very good also their Pinot Noir, which tells all the typical features of this territory.
The last estate that we visit in Hall G is CESTE , a Piedmontese company that makes us taste the ROERO ARNEIS , savory and lively, as well as the two versions of BARBERA D’ALBA and BARBERA D’ALBA SUPERIORE .The latter is a full-bodied wine with hints of spice and red fruit.
A real discovery!
Again on the ground floor: pavilions C and D
As we leave the upper floor to return to the first floor, a small detour into the world of beer and cigar.
A woman is intent on showing the public how the Toscano are made entirely by hand, and we decide to stop and observe it. Meanwhile, an AIS speaker tells about the combination of cigar and craft beer, of which we taste a STOUT made for the occasion and not yet on the market by a group of Ischia enthusiasts about to start their brewery.
In room C we meet the Campania consortiums of protection of Sannio and Vesuvius and we entertain ourselves with GMA IMPORT EXPORT, which offers in Italy a series of excellent BELGIAN TRIPS.
Hall D, instead, offers important wineries such as TORRICINO di Stefano di Marzo, DONNACHIARA, CANTINE RAO and the estate ADELINA MOLETTIERI. We also meet the TENUTA CASOLI , which we visited in November 2017.
A public success
Our visit ends with a final toast again in the company of Salvatore Martusciello and his wife Gilda.
Enjoy for the umpteenth time his OTTOUVE GRAGNANO while the crowd of evening visitors begins to increase. It is now about 8pm and our visit comes to an end.
Together with the wine, we try a taste of cheeses kindly offered by the company SOGNI DI LATTE and a magnificent bite of MOZZARELLA DI BUFALA CAMPANA DOP of the Consorzio Tutela Mozzarella di Bufala.
There is also room for a taste of excellent oil STILLA , a Roccadaspide company in the province of Salerno, whose property is owned by AgriOIL Spa
All in all, the whole event was beautiful and well organized. All seasoned by the sun and the beautiful panorama of the Gulf of Naples. Vitigno Italia continues today with the final day.
