Wonderfully Old-Fashioned

Wonderfully Old-Fashioned

The Mastroberardino family has been producing wine of suberb quality in the southern Italian region of Campania for more than 130 years.

The special characteristics of the wines from Mastroberardino are the vines and the soil, from which they grow. The grape varieties are autochthonous, i. meaning they only grow in the south Italian Campania: they are Falanghina, Greco di Tufo, Fiano di Avellino and Coda di Volpe (white) as well as Aglianico and Piedirosso (red).
Historians suspect that Falanghina could be the grape variety which made the Falernian wine one of the most highly valued ones in ancient times. Today, it tastes fresh and fruity with bouquets of citrus fruit, pineapple and white blossom.

Greco di Tufo was cultivated by the Greeks in southern Italy as long as 2,500 years ago. In the Mastroberardino bottles, the crisp freshness combines with bouquets reminiscent of light green and white peaches.
Fiano wines are very rich with floral, spicy notes.

The term Coda die Volpe (Italian for foxtail) was used by Plinius the Elder (23–79 A. D.) when he compared the grape variety Alopecis with the shape of a foxtail.
The Phoenicians brought the red grape variety Aglianico (a corruption of "ellenico", the Italian word for "Greek") from Greece to the region surrounding Naples. Wines pressed from it have a slightly smoky berry bouquet and a surprising amount of acidity.

The Piedirosso grapes were also mentioned before the time of Plinius the Elder. Its name means "red foot" and refers to the red wood of the vine.
These historical grape varieties have been planted in very fertile soil in the volcanic region of Campania. Vesuvius still dominates the landscape today, and the three protected cultivated regions (DOCC) of Campania are located on its slopes at 300 to 800 metres: Fiano di Avellino, Greco di Tufo and Taurasi, where the Mastroberardino vineyard cultivates approx. 300 hectares.
The ashy soil is rich in minerals, loamy with lime pockets and sandy in places. It produces complex, multi-layered wines with intensive bouquets.

Since 1986, Radici Taurasi DOCG has been an outstanding example of the Mastroberardino wine collection. This one hundred percent Aglianico wine achieves its optimum maturity 10 years after the grape harvest but is equally very drinkable before that. Its intensive bouquet reminds you of plums, sour cherries and black pepper and it goes well both with food and when drunk on its own.

You can obtain additional information about the winery at www.mastroberardino.com/ (in English).

Text: Rainer Meier