IRPINIA AREA (Province of Avellino)

MONTEMARANO (Irpinia – Province of Avellino): The winter was cold with snow (during the heaviest snowfall it was 1-1.5 meters high) and this created a good water supply for the vines. It rained in the springtime. July, August and September were dry

Giovanni Molettieri son of Salvatore Molettieri owner of Azienda Agricola Molettieri (Taurasi DOCG, Irpinia Aglianico DOC, Irpinia Campi Taurasini DOC, Fiano di Avellino DOCG, Greco di Tufo DOCG): “……we picked Fiano on the 10th of October, Greco in mid October. We harvested Aglianico from the 3rd of November till the 10th of November. The grapes were perfectly ripe, there were no problems with disease. Yesterday (13/11) we racked off the first vat. Taurasi is still fermenting. The musts and the wine have good aromatics. 2012 is a good vintage….”

TAURASI (Irpinia – Province of Avellino): There was a lot of snow in winter. The temperature was high in June, July and August. There was some rain in July and in August, but it was generally dry.

Pino Caggiano son of Antonio Caggiano owner of the homonymous estate (Taurasi DOCG, Irpinia Aglianico DOC, Irpinia Aglianico Campi Taurasini DOC, Fiano di Avellino DOCG, Greco di Tufo DOCG):”…the harvest was 15 days early. We started picking Fiano and Greco on the 28/29 of September and we picked Aglianico from the 12th of October till the 18th of October. Grape yield was lower this year. The wines have good aromatics, a good alcohol strength, good acidity and a good balance. This year we left a lot of vegetation on the vines and we only deleafed ten days before the harvest (we normally deleaf in August). We made the whole range of wines. 2012 is an excellent vintage. There was no disease….”

TUFO (Irpinia – Province of Avellino): There was snow in January that created a good water supply for the vines. In June there was some rain. In July it was dry, but there was an excellent rainfall that lasted for 24 hours. In August the temperature was very high, but the vines did not suffer. In September there was a very good day-night temperature range.

Gabriella Ferrara owner of Azienda Agricola Benito Ferrara (Greco di Tufo DOCG, Fiano di Avellino DOCG, Irpinia Aglianico DOC):”..the vines started to vegetate early in the spring. The harvest was early and we started picking Greco on the 24-25 of September and we finished picking Aglianico on the 20-23 of October. The grape yield was lower this year. This year we left grass on the aisles between the rows of vines. The wines have good aromatics, a good alcohol strength, good acidity and a good balance. We are satisfied with the vintage. We did not have problems with disease…..”

LAPIO (Irpinia – Province of Avellino): There was a lot of snow during the winter. It was rainy in the springtime. In mid June there was a good rainfall that was beneficial for the vines.

Carmela of Azienda Vitivinicola Colli di Lapio (Fiano di Avellino DOCG, Irpinia Campi Taurasini DOC, Taurasi DOCG): “…we started picking Fiano on the first of October and we finished with Aglianico (it was an early harvest for this varietal) at the end of October. The clusters were beautiful, there were no problems with disease. The wines have lovely aromatics. We are very satisfied with the 2012 harvest. The 2012 vintage is similar, although it is still early to judge the wines, to the 2008 vintage…..”

FOGLIANISE – TABURNO AREA (Province of Benevento): The winter was cold with snow (up to 40 cms high). There has not been so much snow since 1968. This was positive as it created a good water supply for the vines. In the springtime there was little rain. In July and in September there were a few rains. The night/day temperature range was excellent at the end of August/beginning of September.

Filippo Colandrea agronomist-oenologist of Cantina del Taburno (Aglianico del Taburno DOC, Taburno DOC, Beneventano IGT): “……..it was a great harvest. The grape yield was lower this year. We started with Falanghina for the production of the sparkling wine on the 8th of September, we then continued with the rest of the Falanghina, Greco, Fiano and Coda di Volpe. We picked Aglianico early and we finished on the 16th of October. We made the whole range of wines. The reds are concentrated with good alcohol strength, the whites have good aromatics (we picked the whites early in order to preserve the aroma). 2012 is a great vintage….”

BOSCOTRECASE SUL VESUVIO, TORRE DEL GRECO (Province of Naples): The winter was cold. It was hot during the summer without much day/night temperature range.

Angelo Valentino oenologist of Azienda Vinicola De Angelis – the headquarters of the estate are in the town of Sorrento – (Lacrima Christi DOC, Rosso, Bianco and Rosato): “………..the harvest was good. We did not deleaf the vines and this protected the clusters from the sun. We harvested during the first week of October, slightly early for the red varietals and slightly late for the white varietals. The whites are still fermenting (we interviewed Angelo on the 14th of November). The red wines have a good colour, very supple tannins and a good concentration… ”