Italiano
The beauty of Boccella wines
In this age of self-serving reasoning, in which every action has an aim, “beauty”– as a universal concept – is like a eureka moment capable of restoring harmony and creating order out of chaos.
Examples of beauty can be found in many areas: from art to nature, from the spiritual to the material. It is something that attracts, impresses and, in some cases, changes the lives of those who perceive it. In his film Manhattan, Woody Allen captures the ‘sense’ of beauty – what makes life worthwhile – in Cezanne’s still life paintings, in certain places in New York and in the sweet face of Tracy. Beauty for Dostoevsky, on the other hand, is the condition – which is also hope – of saving the world in an ideal union between the good and the beautiful.
And thus wine is also beauty. Producing wine is an ancient and natural art which is at the same time history, culture and emotions. In his latest book The Breath of Wine, Luigo Moio refers to the “privilege of beauty” which consists in being able to capture, with esthetic sensitivity, the sensorial and emotional expressions of wine.
Tangible evidence of this can be found in any of the many wineries that capture beauty through their wine production.
A valid example of this is the Boccella wine estate, in the village of San Eustachio just outside Castelfranci in the province of Avellino, where they bring together beauty and goodness in wines that have a clear identity which allows one to experience that “privilege of beauty” that makes the difference.
The area of production is exceptional for making great reds and sits at an altitude of 600m above sea level. And it is here that for over 50 years the Boccella family has been cultivating different Aglianico clones on ungrafted vines, working in a microclimate that includes cold winters when temperatures can easily fall below freezing. The late ripening of the grapes, due to the microclimate, results in harvest taking place during the first ten days of November.
They have just over three hectares of certified organic vineyards that have a clay soil and are surrounded by a dense forest of oak and olive trees. The winery consists of two buildings that face each other.
They only began selling their wines in 2005 and before then only made a limited amount of wine for family consumption while most of their grapes were sold to other producers.
The technical side of winemaking is in the hands of Sebastiano Fortunato, a student of Giacomo Tacis, who has been able to bring out the best from the fruit and this extraordinary terroir.
The wine is made traditionally with the grapes pressed by hand and the must fermenting in open vats at room temperature, while aging is done using 300 and 500hl barrels with no filtration or clarification.
The result is a wine with a distinct balsamic imprint, bold to the point of being petulant, almost as if to underscore the cold temperatures the vines are subjected to and the difficult area man has had to dominate.
Those lucky enough to enjoy a glass of Boccella wine will experience, by tasting it, that “sense of beauty” revealed by its authenticity.
