Greco

Mastroberardino, long Campania’s most renowned winery, is the family firm that is universally acknowledged to have been the most important guardian of Campania’s vinous heritage. The winery has always been focused on honing the virtues of the region’s traditional grape varieties. Among other things, the winery has paid close attention to planting varieties on appropriate soils and to adopting winemaking methods that maximized the grapes’ varietal character, rather than techniques that buried it under oak and fruitiness.

Made with 100 percent Greco di Tufo, Mastroberardino may be best known for their rich and age-worthy Aglianicos, but this white is equally delicious. The nose hints of herbs, white peach and pear, while the palate is scented and well structured. A bright, clear freshness adds definition and length.

Noticeably richer in colour, Antoine and Diamante rent a tiny vineyard of Greco in the village of Tufo from a Signor Ciamillo, whose vineyard is steeply inclined, high up among the verdant woods, on white tufo soils. More structured than the pretty, floral Fiano, the nose suggests mandarin zest, even apricots. To the taste this full, dry, extraordinary wine has a rich orange pulp feel, racy acidity, a definite phenolic structure and such salty intensity. Harvested on 10th October and bottled end May 2014, it reminds slightly me of Rangen’s Clos St Urbain. Fabulous.
David Berry Green