How often do you find yourself intrigued by a wine because of its label or the name of the winery? It happens to everyone, including me. This time I found myself wondering why the Spiniello family decided to name their winery Crypta Castagnara!
The answer is simple: their estate is in Grottolella, in the province of Avellino, a village of around 1,000 souls in the heart of Irpinia. What's the connection? The municipality was anciently known in the 12th century as Crypta Castagnaria (Grotta Castagnara), and from this the name of this winery – which I frankly had not heard of before – obviously derives.
Production began at an unspecified point in time; it seems the Spiniello family has always made wine! They called it "vino di Cardone" after the nickname of great-great-grandfather Domenico, and that is why the thistle (cardo) is the emblem of the estate.
The official watershed vintage is 1997, with commercial release in 1998 under the Crypta Castagnara label: at that point they became a proper winery.
Marilena Spiniello is the managing director, Sergio the all-rounder, supported by an oenological consultant for certain months of the year.
There have been difficult moments: economic downturns, unlucky vintages; but passion and elbow grease helped the winery get back on its feet and put everything behind it.
Since 2015, Gennaro Brevetti has joined the family as commercial director. He is deeply in love with the potential of this estate and describes every detail with tremendous attachment, answering every question with a smile. "Even though I am from Irpinia, I had never tasted Sergio's wine before September 2014 – but it was love at first sight! I had in mind the idea of working with a "small" Irpinian winery; after visiting a few, I decided that Crypta Castagnara would be my travelling companion, and here I am!"
They produce Fiano, Falanghina, Greco, Aglianico, Taurasi; 7 hectares of owned vineyards, 60,000 bottles.
I had the opportunity to taste the Taurasi 2008: garnet in colour, with aromas of tobacco, cherry, wild berries, plum, black pepper, cloves and liquorice; on the palate it shows structure and balance; the tannin is fine and elegant – the price, in my opinion, is a pleasant surprise.
I also tasted the Cretazzo, Aglianico 2008: garnet, with notes of violet, blackcurrant and wild berries; it has good structure and is an enjoyable drink – here too the price is genuinely attractive.
Finally, I want to tell you about the "gem", or rather the experiment: Fiaba, much like the story of this family – 600 bottles of Fiano aged 6 months in barriques, mineral, smoky, acidic and ready to age gracefully… I'll say no more.
What do you think?
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