Petilia New Arrivals
Brother-and-sister team Roberto and Teresa Bruno farm 20 hectares of vineyards within Campofiorito with great care and attention to maintaining biodiversity throughout. In the winery, they apply a soft touch to each wine, where the whites see only stainless steel and the two reds are expertly matured in French oak; but don’t let the wood scare you, the balance here is uncanny. ERIC GUIDO, www.vinousmedia.com
I've never been a fan of Greco di Tufo... but Robert Camuto (another wine writer) turned me onto this producer and it's changed my attitude. The 2019 was deep, earthy and complex. I loved it. ERIC ASIMOV, New York Times
It had been over a decade since I’d been in Campania and more particularly, the volcanic range that forms part of the Apennines that run down the spine of Italy, about an hour to the east of Naples. It’s a special place - breathtaking raw beauty of the place, beauty that makes you start checking the local real estate windows. For wine there's extra meaning - altitude, large diurnal shifts and soils that give the wines of Avellino (Fiano), Tufo (Greco) and Taurasi (Aglianico) – their x-factor.
We’re here to visit Petilia in the heart of the Greco di Tufo DOCG. We started working with them during Covid after reading countless reviews for their wines and decided to take a punt on importing them. After that first shipment we never looked back but we’ve never offered them because I wanted to go and meet the people and get an understanding of the terroir and the philosophy.
Well, the people and the wines are great. The estate is brother and sister team of Roberto and Teresa Bruno. She runs the show – quick, intelligent, full of energy and industry. She’s the president of the consorzio, no small thing; a political juggling act managing competing interests and egos. During our visit her phone buzzes constantly. She complains and then patiently takes the calls. She won a bitterly fought election during Covid. Her opponent was from a big and internationally renowned estate and she wanted to run so she could help the smaller producers of the zone, producers she sees as the history and future of the area.
After winning, she put her money, in the form of money set aside for her wedding, to create a market for the countless producers struggling to find a market during Covid.
On the production side it’s all Roberto. Every aspect of viticulture and winemaking is his domain and you get the feeling this his hands have been on every part piece of equipment in the place. In fact, that's probably not an exaggeration given he also hand-built the magnificent cellars - an imposing structure of thick stone walls and towering reclaimed chestnut wood doors (pictured). He also let me drive his brand new tractor which cost 250,000 euro. Therefore, I think he's either very trusting or very stupid. I didn't crash it so let's go with the former.
The vineyards are run organically, they surround the cellars and on the day we visit, are buzzing with life and vigour. They farm mostly Greco di Tufo (18 hectares worth) as well as smaller plots of Fiano in the neighbouring Avellino DOCG and a tiny production of Aglianico DOC and Taurasi DOCG.
He emphasises that they make wine in a traditional style. In fact, the truth is more nuanced than that. All whites are fermented in and elevaged in stainless steel and the reds see some larger tonneaux, mostly older and French. So we’re not talking foot stomping and basket presses here. What I think he means is that the wines, in both flavour profile and the aromatics, retain real personality and haven’t had their intrinsic sense of place and variety depleted by a complete technocratic international winemaking approach.
As I come to realise through the course of the tasting, it's a smart play. By preserving textures and letting the varieties speak, this in turn, unlocks a door on the place, making the wines absolutely more engaging than some of their counterparts in the region.
On this day he shows us the core of the range Greco di Tufo, Fiano Avellino, Aglianico DOC and Aglianico in its DOCG Taurasi guise. They’re all excellent but here’s a few key general takeaways for me from the tasting.
Their Greco is richly aromatic - yellow plum, citrus, juniper, white smoke some honeysuckle and in the mouth it holds onto pithy textures creating a not-insignificant framework for the wine and gives an almond bitter clip, tannin textural nuance. It’s normal for Greco and every producer I asked about it confirmed that it’s not skins that deliver this tannin profile, it’s purely from the juice. Nothing to fear though, it’s a lovely feature and when food comes into the picture it disappears into the background quietly cleansing the palate.
What’s more, an aged example shows just how beautifully the variety ages. It was a cracker wine, reminiscent of an aged Marsanne with maybe a hint of white Burgundy – grilled nuts, sweet fruited and rich but with good buffering tannins.
The Fiano they make is also wonderful. It comes from a single-site at altitude (everyone we speak to tells us that Fiano needs to be planted at the higher climbs to be its best. Anywhere else it loses any particularity). The Petilia version is full of lemon, acacia and some roasted hazelnuts. It races across the palate with flavours that match up the aromas and then finishes with a wonderful mineral salinity. Fresh and delicious wine.
In Aglianico, (one with a few years age) is all rose petals, cherry, chestnuts and Amaro herbs. Cherry and a hint of porcini starting to poke through complexes the package. Lovely wine
Whatever we tried was excellent and the aged examples we were shown, particularly of Greco and Aglianico, were an out-and-out revelation. Given the prices here these guys may one of the wine world's best values.
?????Cheers
Michael
I've never been a fan of Greco di Tufo... but Robert Camuto (another wine writer) turned me onto this producer and it's changed my attitude. The 2019 was deep, earthy and complex. I loved it. ERIC ASIMOV, New York Times
It had been over a decade since I’d been in Campania and more particularly, the volcanic range that forms part of the Apennines that run down the spine of Italy, about an hour to the east of Naples. It’s a special place - breathtaking raw beauty of the place, beauty that makes you start checking the local real estate windows. For wine there's extra meaning - altitude, large diurnal shifts and soils that give the wines of Avellino (Fiano), Tufo (Greco) and Taurasi (Aglianico) – their x-factor.
We’re here to visit Petilia in the heart of the Greco di Tufo DOCG. We started working with them during Covid after reading countless reviews for their wines and decided to take a punt on importing them. After that first shipment we never looked back but we’ve never offered them because I wanted to go and meet the people and get an understanding of the terroir and the philosophy.
Well, the people and the wines are great. The estate is brother and sister team of Roberto and Teresa Bruno. She runs the show – quick, intelligent, full of energy and industry. She’s the president of the consorzio, no small thing; a political juggling act managing competing interests and egos. During our visit her phone buzzes constantly. She complains and then patiently takes the calls. She won a bitterly fought election during Covid. Her opponent was from a big and internationally renowned estate and she wanted to run so she could help the smaller producers of the zone, producers she sees as the history and future of the area.
After winning, she put her money, in the form of money set aside for her wedding, to create a market for the countless producers struggling to find a market during Covid.
On the production side it’s all Roberto. Every aspect of viticulture and winemaking is his domain and you get the feeling this his hands have been on every part piece of equipment in the place. In fact, that's probably not an exaggeration given he also hand-built the magnificent cellars - an imposing structure of thick stone walls and towering reclaimed chestnut wood doors (pictured). He also let me drive his brand new tractor which cost 250,000 euro. Therefore, I think he's either very trusting or very stupid. I didn't crash it so let's go with the former.
The vineyards are run organically, they surround the cellars and on the day we visit, are buzzing with life and vigour. They farm mostly Greco di Tufo (18 hectares worth) as well as smaller plots of Fiano in the neighbouring Avellino DOCG and a tiny production of Aglianico DOC and Taurasi DOCG.
He emphasises that they make wine in a traditional style. In fact, the truth is more nuanced than that. All whites are fermented in and elevaged in stainless steel and the reds see some larger tonneaux, mostly older and French. So we’re not talking foot stomping and basket presses here. What I think he means is that the wines, in both flavour profile and the aromatics, retain real personality and haven’t had their intrinsic sense of place and variety depleted by a complete technocratic international winemaking approach.
As I come to realise through the course of the tasting, it's a smart play. By preserving textures and letting the varieties speak, this in turn, unlocks a door on the place, making the wines absolutely more engaging than some of their counterparts in the region.
On this day he shows us the core of the range Greco di Tufo, Fiano Avellino, Aglianico DOC and Aglianico in its DOCG Taurasi guise. They’re all excellent but here’s a few key general takeaways for me from the tasting.
Their Greco is richly aromatic - yellow plum, citrus, juniper, white smoke some honeysuckle and in the mouth it holds onto pithy textures creating a not-insignificant framework for the wine and gives an almond bitter clip, tannin textural nuance. It’s normal for Greco and every producer I asked about it confirmed that it’s not skins that deliver this tannin profile, it’s purely from the juice. Nothing to fear though, it’s a lovely feature and when food comes into the picture it disappears into the background quietly cleansing the palate.
What’s more, an aged example shows just how beautifully the variety ages. It was a cracker wine, reminiscent of an aged Marsanne with maybe a hint of white Burgundy – grilled nuts, sweet fruited and rich but with good buffering tannins.
The Fiano they make is also wonderful. It comes from a single-site at altitude (everyone we speak to tells us that Fiano needs to be planted at the higher climbs to be its best. Anywhere else it loses any particularity). The Petilia version is full of lemon, acacia and some roasted hazelnuts. It races across the palate with flavours that match up the aromas and then finishes with a wonderful mineral salinity. Fresh and delicious wine.
In Aglianico, (one with a few years age) is all rose petals, cherry, chestnuts and Amaro herbs. Cherry and a hint of porcini starting to poke through complexes the package. Lovely wine
Whatever we tried was excellent and the aged examples we were shown, particularly of Greco and Aglianico, were an out-and-out revelation. Given the prices here these guys may one of the wine world's best values.
?????Cheers
Michael