Cantine dell’Angelo

Vingerons and Miners
In 1995, as a homage to his ancestors,  Angelo Muto purchased 7 hectares of historic vineyards in Tufo, the grand cru for the Greco variety. His family have worked these vines, and, curiously, the local sulphur mine tunneled underneath. Angelo explained this vigneron cum miner occupation, as we headed to a well for a drink. A few passes away, a mine entrance lurked at the edge of the vineyard. This was a perfect intersection to talk about this fascinating growing area.

During rainy days especially, my grandfather would work the sulphur mines, while my grandmother would bring the mine workers sticks of TNT. The rain would stop and they’d head right for the vineyards. We were always agricultural workers, but since the discovery of sulphur, and the subsequent mines [in 1866], they ended up having two rather difficult vocations instead of just one.

Angelo slowly pulled, arm over arm, the Jute twine that was knotted to a metal cup now filled with the cool well water.

Che ti senti? / What’s it taste like?

Well Water as Terroir
There was a sulphur smell, but that wasn’t the most interesting aspect of the water. It was salty, mineral, and almost oily in texture, with the tension that comes from having a low PH.  The water was strangely invigorating. It recalled the take-it-or-leave-it pleasure of Angelo’s wines. They have that same initial curtain of sulphur and minerality on the nose, and then an almost oily texture in the mouth. Mix in the grape variety Greco, and Jasmine notes appear; a polyphenolic Bergamot edge; that ‘oily’ water transforms to a mid-palate weight,  textured with baking soda and powdered citrus peel.  Yellow sun fruits hide here and there, especially with the Torrevalle bottling.  Like the growing area itself, these are extreme wines, and the key for Angelo is to produce a world-class bianco wines – not just curiosities.

Wines: Greco Riserva and “Fox’s Tail”
For that, Angelo produces only Riserva Greco, legally meaning they’ve been at aged a minimum of 12 months, beginning from the November of the harvest year, even if in reality he often waits two or three years before release. He has two Riserva Greco bottlings, the aptly name Miniere, Mines, from vines that are 40 years old at 300 meters, and higher up there’s the Torrevalle bottling from almost 100 year old vines at 400+ meters, mostly grown on native rootstock. There’s also a smidgen of the delightful “Fox’s Tail,” Coda di Volpe variety (see pic with Angelo taking a selfie with the long “Fox’s Tail” grape bunch).

Grand Cru Tufo Terroir and Gran Confusione
Tufo is an extremely confusing word. Tufo is a town in the provence of Avellino in the region of Campania. It’s also, importantly, considered one of two grand cru growing area of the Greco variety, along with Santa Paolina. Finally, and confusingly, Tufo is the word used to describe a soil (tuffeau in Fr.)  Italian producers interchangeably use the word to describe  volcanic ufo and calcaric / chalky / limestone tufo.  Which kind of tufo soil, is the tufo from the growing area of Tufo, around the town of Tufo? It’s decidedly calcaric tufo, and, as you can guess, not without a large sulphur presence as well. The Greco variety seems to be pretty transparent about reflecting the soil its grown in. Grown in more clay soils at lower altitudes, there’s much more fruit. Some wineries also like to put their firma or signature on it, which causes further variables and confusion to parce out. Angelo’s Greco on calcaric tufo soil is all about natural pushed acidity, and lack of fruit for the most part; with lots of, sulphur and mineral notes. Angelo is also very hands out in winemaking: native yeasts, no wood, and not much sulphur is needed. He’s always in the vineyard; the mines have been closed down for a generation now. His vineyards get a great day-night temperature swing from the nearby Irpinian mountains (Appennino campano), which is a boon to Greco since it’s harvested late in October. Angelo uses the traditional technique accapannatura creating shade as the shoots are twisted trained together horizontally.

Conclusion
In the last few years, more and more people have been seeking out white wines for a change in eating habits that now often rotate in lighter dishes. The grape variety Greco and the soil and growing area of Tufo have all the terroir one could ask for to create unique that compete on the world wine stage. The limited number of stand out producers and hectares under vineyard will always make this an extremely niche wine. And the more limited and niche a wine is, the more it needs to be compelling. Everyone loves the Fiano variety (from Avellino too),  yet we know Greco is going to be divisive. Here’ s to seeing Greco and Tufo put their hat in the proverbial ring through Cantine dell’Angelo.