Adam 2021 - Cantina Giardino
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Adam 2021 - Cantina Giardino
Greco · Campania, Italy · 75cl
Pickup available at 3 Cornmarket Street
Usually ready in 2-4 days
A commanding varietal expression, the structure of tannins, minerality, and acidity feels almost tendinous. Aromas of Earl Grey, dried lavender, and dulse-like mineral freshness.
Good with: roast pork with fennel, or an aged hard cheese like Pecorino.
Greco planted in 1936 from the Chianzano vineyard in Montemarano, at approximately 500 metres above sea level. Just 5 days skin contact imbued this concentrated juice with a deep amber colour, accented by 15 months in Acacia barrels.
The producer
Daniela and Antonio di Gruttola began making wine as Cantina Giardino with a group of friends at the turn of the millennium. Natives of the Irpinian hills, it was the encroachment of mechanised viticulture and the uprooting of the region's ancient vineyards that compelled the couple to radically alter the course of their lives and dedicate themselves to the preservation of the ampelographic artefacts growing in the vineyards of Avellino, and the intuitive winemaking and crop husbandry techniques that, over many generations, had adapted to this remote, rugged wilderness. Based in Ariano Irpino, in the saddle of the Apennines and at just under 800 metres elevation, the winters are cold and the summers short, with harsh winds blowing from the north and from the Adriatic coast. The landscape is dramatic, defined by mountain ridges and undulating hills, with a diverse geological complexion that can be explored through the Cantina's eclectic portfolio of wines, from their own holdings or from grapes bought from neighbours and friends.
Beginning as a project among friends aiming to cultivate biodiversity between the vines, train their vines in the old way, and working without additions or filtration at the cellar, they had few, if any, peers in Campania in the early years, confirming the significance and timeliness of their work. In the decades since, their wines have become a benchmark for the timeless and evocative wines of Irpinia. Anyone who has experienced the enchanting pleasures of old vine aglianico like Le Fole, or the heady potency of fiano in, say, Tu tu will immediately understand why. Today, the original group remain active in the project, but Daniela and Antonio make the wines and drive the project forward.
The place
Montemarano, at the south-east of the Avellino province, is known primarily for Taurasi, and the region's ancient red variety Aglianico. Greco planted here in 1936 is historically significant both for its age and its location, predating the postwar rationalisation of the Italian wine industry, surviving the planting of productive international varieties and the shift to denominazione blending that squeezed out most of the indigenous plantings. Vines from this era, selected for over generations, thrive in these elevated conditions and poor soils, yielding concentration and a mineral precision that have become all too rare in these hills.
Grapes: Greco
Region: Ariano Irpino, Campania, Italy
ABV: 13%