NV Cantine Matrone "Spasso" Campania IGT

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Andrea showcasing his rare, native varieties growing directly on the lava flow, and how he'll grow them pergola. 

Low ABV bbq sipping, wild dark fruit, yet light and juicey, bitter orange peel, field blend of varieties that Andrea Matrone has been working hard to rehabilitate: 25% Cancello (bio-type of Piedirosso, Pergola planted here and vigorous), 25% Cascaveglia (super-rare, with high degree of polyphenols from skins and pips, raging acidity, and a particular ‘inky’ note), 25% Fosso, 25% Aglianicone (different than Aglianico)

Manual destemming and then foot-stomping of the grapes; native yeast fermentation lasts for 21 days, 4 on the skins in fiberglass tanks with very few punch downs, so as not to extract too much tannin.

The Matrone family has been cultivating vines on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, just east of Naples, since the 1700s. Strada Matrone is the path carved out by Andrea Matrone's uncle that leads to the summit of the Volcano. 

Fast forward to this century, when Andrea Matrone and his cousin Francesco reappropriated the original 18th-century family cantina and 2.3 hectares of vineyards on the southern slopes of Vesuvius. If Etna’s volcanic wines are nobile, Vesuvius’ are wild, with potassium and iron-rich volcanic soils providing funky bitter and salt notes akin to the moss between the teeth of Ewok on an Imperial speeder bike. There’s one bianco made mostly from Caprettone (which may be none other than Trebbiano d’Abruzzo according to Andrea), a part of which sees two days of skin contact, and one rosso (mostly Piedirosso). Farming is in conversion to organic (it will be certified from 2024) and fermentations are from pied de cuve from local yeasts. Total production is 10,000 bottles. This is another compelling, young producer springing from an old family tradition – a combination that increasingly is making some of the most exciting wines in Italy.

Andrea’s experience as a local agronomist and enologist, combined with his contadino ethos, give wines of volcanic energy, and radiating minerality.