Cantina Giardino: From Irpinia with Love
Antonio and Daniela de Gruttola are certified legends of the Italian low-intervention wine scene and two of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet. They are extremely proud of their native Campania and their focus on old vineyards, along with old fashioned farming and winemaking, makes for wines that are a very personal expression of this part of the world.
Cantina Giardino was born as a joint venture between six friends with the specific aim of preserving old vineyards and native varietals in and around Irpinia, a mountainous town in the heart of Campania. Spearheaded by Antonio and Daniela, the project sources fruit from a jigsaw puzzle of distinct and often quite distant parcels of vines. From the beginning, the aim has been to source older vines (50+ years) from growers who have been working traditionally (that is, without any chemical treatments) for generations.
Indigenous Aglianico, Coda di Volpe, Greco and Fiano vines are set at altitude and are planted over the region’s vibrant volcanic soils. Grass, flowers and herbs, even a vegetable garden, grow among the vines; these other plants provide biodiversity and sovescio (“green manure”) for revitalizing the soil. Vineyard work is done by hand, organically, and a combination of great farming and low yields results in healthy fruit, full of character. In the cantina, Antonio’s approach to vinification is no-nonsense and instinctual, resulting in a unique process with each and every vintage. A broad array of aging vessels are used (oak and cherry tree barrels, demi-muits, stainless steel tanks, fiberglass, and terra cotta amphoras home-made by Daniela), wines are fermented without temperature control, and finally bottled with zero additions or subtractions.
The resulting wines are singular, vivid, wild and unadorned expressions of grape and place.
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