I am not gonna write about the popular food and wine pairings, which Villa Raiano itself suggests within its website (news section). And it is not even a joke: this winery really has got 2 eggs in the cellar. It is a new fermentation system realized in cement tanks which has an egg shape to make it work better (for the less experienced: the fermentation is a critical step in a winery as it transforms the must into wine).

chiara giorleo next to the… egg!

This is a new trial of Sebastiano Fortunato, winemaker of Villa Raiano, who proposed recently to invest in this new system that allow to ferment the juice without the use of wood when and if necessary, maybe to propose a new wine on the market.

At the moment it is an experiment, we all are curious to see how “Aglianico”, typical grape in Campania region (south of Italy), will react to this system stolen from French and that could open new doors!

On the other hand a cellar with such a modern building has to be innovative!

Campania is one of the gems of Italian wine world and Irpinia area, where this winery is located, represents a perfect example including 3 DOCG wines (the best denomination for italian wines): the red “Taurasi” and the 2 whites “Fiano di Avellino” and “Greco di Tufo”.

Personally, I enjoyed a lot their Fiano di Avellino called “Alimata” (fantasy name) on the occasion of a micro-vertical tasting held few months ago (a tasting from the vintage 2009 up to 2012). But probably my favorite is Greco di Tufo: powerful on the nose and on the palate, with good balance, full of fruity notes, complex and intense, and I am really sure about that.

vines at villa raiano

Infact, their Greco di Tufo has been one of the wines included in the contest I joint as judging panel member recently: “Radici del Sud” (see article here); as usual the tastings are blind (bagged bottles) and only after the closure of the voting phases, all the judges can be provided with the lists of producers and we can pair samples’ numbers with the winery, finally! Well, I found out I gave them a pretty good score!

Cool and pleasant is even their “Aglianico IGT” a young red wine (from the native “Aglianico” grape) that demonstrates how you can work well with this grape generally considered “difficult” if not aged for long time.

Interesting to see how much they’re also investing in sparkling wines (so-called metodo classico): buffalo mozzarella (typical fresh cheese produced only in Campania region) and local sparkling wine could be a perfect pairing by the way!