Cantine de Pietratorcia - Island of Ischia, Campania, Italy
The winery of Pietratorcia started well over 30 years ago in Forio, on the western coast of the island of Ischia, 19 miles off the shore of Naples, through the efforts and commitment of three old farming families: the Iacono, Verde, and Regine, who joint efforts together to bring back to the island the great winemaking traditions, started over 2000 years ago by the Greeks and followed over the centuries by the vintners of Ischia. The families have gone their separate ways, and now only the Ianono family runs the winery. Today, Pietratorcia counts over seven hectares of replanted vineyards of carefully selected native grape varietals, original from the island of Ischia, and is run solely by the Iancono family. Biancolella, Forastera, Uva Rilla, San Leonardo, Fiano, Greco, Malvasia di Candia, Guarnaccia, Piedirosso, and Aglianico grow in perfect exposure to produce small batches of exciting and delicious wines. With a modern facility and cellars dating back to the 18th century, Pietratocia is on its way to restoring Ischia to its role as one of the world’s outstanding wine producers, though still remaining a simple rustic winery.
Pietratorcia is blessed with a western exposure that is nothing short of extreme amid the island’s microclimates. The rustic vineyard surrounded by robust vines, old fig trees, and rosemary bushes farmed in the middle of the Tyrrhenian Sea is a breathtaking oasis that produces wines as extreme as the growing conditions. The winery is named after the large, heavy green rocks, Pietratorcia, that the natives used centuries ago to help them crush grapes. The wines of Pietratoria are wonderfully balanced with the right combination of minerality, fruit, and earth from the rich volcanic and granite soils.
Cantine de Pietratorcia - Island of Ischia, Biancolella Bianco
GRAPE: 100% Biancolella, the most famous native Ischitan wine. Biancolella, on the whole, given the inaccessible places where there are vineyards, is truly a vine of Heroic Viticulture.
SOIL: Volcanic, sandy soil consisting of detritic materials resulting from the detachment of the green tufo Epomeo. Medium and high slope with terraced vineyards. West prevailing exposure. The grapes come from the terraced vineyards of Ischia and Forio, all characterized by good exposure and ventilation. The mature whitish is protected by the coolness of the sites' altimeters, which allows for selective preservation of particular aromatic varietal characteristics.
TRAINING: Pergola-trained vines, organic, dry farming. Guillotine pruning. Distance between plants is 100cm and between rows 130-160cm, depending on the width of the terrace. Plant density of about 6000 plants per hectare. Production from 8 to 10T / Ha.
HARVEST: Hand-harvested, Generally collected at the end of September or early October.
VINIFICATION: Vinified stainless steel, macerated in steel tanks at 10 ° C for 12 hours to facilitate the extraction of varietal aromatic characteristics. The mass is then pressed and must fermented in steel tanks. After fermentation, the wine is immediately shed. Finally, the product remains in steel on fine lees for at least 3 months and then filtered and bottled by the end of March.
LOOK: It is a crystalline wine, straw-yellow in color, with good consistency.
NOSE: Intense and complex (balsamic with notes of sage, thyme, oregano, tomato leaf, basil, floral with hints of jasmine, orange blossom, wildflowers and hawthorn, fruity with hints of peach yellow and white, plum and citrus fruits with hints of lemon and orange tree blossom, pineapple, almond, herbaceous, slightly spicy with hints of vanilla, broad with hints of honey, of evident minerality); refined.
TASTE: Soft and dry, with an immediate but elegant flavor, not excessively fresh, balanced, full-bodied, intense, persistent with a typically almond/mineral finish, refined, ripe, harmonious. It has good longevity.
PAIRING: Perfect with seafood appetizers, pasta with seafood, especially pasta with clams, seafood, crustaceans, and simple fish. Magnificent with the Caprese salad based on buffalo mozzarella.