montevetrano

Since Montevetrano is home to one of the only successful female winemakers in Campania, Stefan knew he wanted it on our list.  Only problem was that they don’t really except visitors.  But Stefan (being the charmer that he is) was able to get us for a private tour with the winemaker herself: the lovely and oh-so-passionate Silvia Imparato.

While a visit alone would have been beyond special enough, it just so happened that a well-known Italian journalist from a prestigious Italian wine magazine also happened to be visiting that day.  Silvia and the wine reviewer would be doing a very rare vertical tasting: 7 different vintage years of the same exact wine side-by-side.  And given we happened to be there on this day, we got to take part.  Pretty unreal.  

Silvia kicked off our visit by giving us a personalized tour of the gorgeous grounds and barrel room. 

As she guided us through the vineyards, she told us stories of growing up here with her cousins, helping to pick the grapes and make the wines.  She also told us how she’s left the land almost completely unchanged from when she was a child.  While most wine-makers would ensure only vines line the soil, in Silvia’s fields cherry and figs trees grow freely, sometimes smack-dab in the middle of a row of vines.  She thinks this freedom and spontaneity adds to the wine’s richness and flavor.

fig tree on left

She also told us how she attributes much of her success (and her extra-sharp mind) to the fact that she was bold enough to sneak glasses of her family's wine starting at the age of 7 - something she lets her 9-year-old grandson indulge in as well.

She then guided us not to a tasting room, but rather into her own Tuscany-style home.

The tasting took place on her beautiful, airy patio overlooking the nearby rolling hills.

As promised, she opened 7 different vintages, plus one extra bottle of a new wine they had yet to release.

While we had done lots of research on her wines, it quickly became apparent that we were completely out of our league beside the Italian wine journalist.  

He immediately requested white paper to hold behind the glass as he twirled it to check the wine's color in addition to insisting the platter of fresh, homemade potato pizza be removed from the area (much to my disappointment) to not interfere with his sense of smell.

note his special wine tasting notebook atop his white paper supply

Not only did he take more notes than a freshman in Psych 101 before he even took a sip, he had a sense of smell that I didn't know was possible in a human being. 

note 9-year-old grandson partaking in tasting

Some things he smelled in the first vintage alone:

"Jicama." (Which I can't smell even when I have a Jicama in front of me.)

"Coffee beans that have been roasted for 8 days." (Not 7 days, and certainly not 9 days.)

"The lemon scent of starch when it is being ironed onto a linen shirt." (Seriously.  I can't make this stuff up.)

While we couldn't keep up with his superhuman wine-tasting skills, we had a wonderful time trying the wines (me more than Stefan as he was still on board to drive for one more stop), learning more about Silvia and the history of the winery, and just enjoying the gorgeous scenery.  

Far too quickly, it was time to say good-bye.

Before we left, however, she gave us a tour of her charming, old kitchen (and let us sneak a few pieces of that potato pizza for the road).

xoxo

KK