IRPINIA AREA (Province of Avellino) The winter was mild. There was rain in the springtime and in the summer. Luckily the weather was beautiful in September and in October.

MONTEMARANO

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): “ ..luckily we had good weather in August, September and October so that we had a good harvest. We picked Aglianico from the 6th till the 13th of November. The clusters were beautiful. We luckily did not have problems with disease as our area is high and ventilated. We dropped fruit and deleafed the vines before the harvest. The must/wine has a good alcoholic strength, good colour, good aromatics and good concentration. 2014 is a good vintage. We had good results on the Fiano and excellent results on the Greco which we started picking on the 3rd of November. The grape yield was in line with the previous vintages….”

TAURASI (Province of Avellino)

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): ”..we picked the white varieties from the 5t h till the 12t h of October and the red varieties from the 20t h till the end of October. The grape yield was lower this year. This year we worked very hard in the vineyards. We dropped fruit 15 days before the harvest and we went through the vineyards more than once in the lower areas. The wines have good alcoholic strength, they are concentrated with beautiful colours…..”

TUFO

Gabriella Ferrara owner of Azienda Agricola Benito Ferrara (Greco di Tufo DOCG, Fiano di Avellino DOCG, Irpinia Aglianico DOC). “..this year the grape yield was lower. We worked very hard in the vineyards from the beginning of June till before the harvest: we deleafed the vines, we dropped fruit, we mowed the grass on the aisles between the rows of vines two or three times in order to air the soil. Our area is luckily high and ventilated. In September we had a very wide night/day temperature range (2 degrees Celsius at night and up to 26 degrees Celsius during the day!) and this was excellent for the aromatics of the wines. The grapes at harvest were beautiful, we carefully selected the clusters. We started picking Fiano on the 7t h of October and we finished with the red varieties on the 17t h /18t h of October. The fermentations have just finished (11t h of November) and we are racking off the first vats. 2014 is another vintage with high quality wines. The alcoholic fermentation proceeded without problems. The aromatics of the white and red wines are wonderful……”

LAPIO

Clelia Romano owner of Azienda Vitivinicola Colli di Lapio (Fiano di Avellino DOCG, Irpinia Campi Taurasini DOC, Taurasi DOCG): “….we harvested 15 days late in comparison to the previous vintages. We started picking Fiano grapes in mid October and we finished on the 20t h /21s t of the month. It was a lovely harvest, the grapes were beautiful. The grape yield was lower this year. We worked very hard in the vineyards. The fermentations proceeded very well. The wines are clean, they have excellent aromatics, they are fresh. We picked the red varieties at the end of October and we had excellent results…..”

FOGLIANISE – TABURNO AREA (Province of Benevento): The winter was mild. The springtime was rainy. The budding phase of the grapes started slightly early. The summer was cool. The weather improved in September and in October.

Filippo Colandrea agronomist-oenologist of Cantina del Taburno (Aglianico del Taburno DOC, Taburno DOC, Beneventano IGT): “..this year we worked very hard in the vineyards, topping and deleafing the vines and dropping fruit. We carefully selected the clusters at harvest…The grape yield of the red varieties was lower, the grape yield of the white varieties was good. We started picking on the 20t h of September and we finished in mid October…The white wines have good aromatics and they are fresh, the red wines have an intense colour, they are concentrated and have good aromatics…….”

BOSCOTRECASE SUL VESUVIO, TORRE DEL GRECO (Province of Naples) The winter was mild. There were rains in the springtime and in the summer. The weather improved in September and in October.

Aniello de Angelis owner of Azienda Vinicola De Angelis – the headquarters of the estate are in the town of Sorrento – (Lacrima Christi DOC, Rosso, Bianco and Rosato): “..we started harvesting in mid October…the grape yield was lower, but the quality of the red and white wines is good…..”

PIMONTE (Sorrento Paeninsula province of Naples): The winter was mild. The vines started their vegetative cycle early. The vegetative cycle then became longer due to the cool weather during the summer. The weather before the harvest was good so that the ripening of the grapes was also good.

Aniello Iovine of Vini Iovine (Penisola Sorrentina DOC, Lacrima Christi del Vesuvio DOC): ”..the harvest started normally, it was not early. We harvested the grapes for the production of Gragnano from the 5th till the 25th of October while we started harvesting the white varieties at the end of September. The grapes were flawless. The soil on the Sorrento Paeninsula is well aired with a good drainage. The grape yield was lower this year. The wines are very fruity, fresh with an intense colour. The alcoholic strength is slightly lower in the Gragnano wines. All the wines are very pleasant to drink. We are happy with the 2014 harvest…..”