2019 La Sibilla Campi Flegrei Piedirosso

Region: Campania > Campi Flegrei > Italy

Grapes: Falanghina

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: organic farming, sandy volcanic soil, 50-100 year old vines, hand picked, fermented and aged in stainless steel for six months. Bottled lightly filtered (vegan) + unfined with minimal SO2; 12% ABV

Winemaker: Vincenzo DiMeo

Italy's Campania region is home to the only active volcano on the mainland- Mt. Vesuvius - and several that are extinct. The area is rich with buried Roman ruins from volcanoes of times past, including the area called Campi Flegrei.  In this beautiful spot, with the Bay of Naples on one side and the Mediterranean Sea on the other, the happy La Sibilla grapes grow on a narrow outcropping of white, volcanic soil.  Vines are own-rooted old - many are 100 years+.  Here, the DiMeo family has been making wine for four generations, with the winemaking now in the hands of young Vincenzo, who still works closely with his father, Luigi. Most of their vineyards are adjacent to the family home, and have never seen a single chemical input.  Instead of cultivating a garden, they simply grow their vegetables between the rows - natural weed control and fertilization of the soil!  From the top of their highest plot of land there is nearly a 360 degree view of the sea - a coastal influence that you taste in a huge way in the wine.  

Also nice with a slight chill.