T'ara Ra Greco 2020

• Profile: Salt, smoke, peachy yellow fruits with grippy tannins. Complex and savoury with firm structure from 4-day skin maceration. Deep minerality from 600m altitude vineyards.
• Food Pairing: Shellfish, vegetarian dishes, appetizers, aged cheeses.
• Serving Temp: 50-55°F (Lightly chilled)

Cantina Giardino, based in Ariano Irpino in Campania's rugged mountainous Irpinia, is today one of the most beloved natural wineries in the world and an object of veneration in enlightened markets like Japan. What began in the late 1990s as a garage vinification passion project now comprises about 7 hectares at high elevation, run by Daniela De Gruttola and Antonio Di Gruttola.

Having witnessed the devastation inflicted on their land by industrial farming and conventional viticulture—which ripped out old local vines to plant chemically-farmed international varieties—Daniela and Antonio decided to do something about it. They sought out old parcels of indigenous grapes like Aglianico, Greco, Fiano, and Coda di Volpe, renting and acquiring them from elderly farmers who had always worked naturally. Their mission goes beyond making outstanding wine: it aims to revive a cultural and winemaking tradition that was disappearing.

Farming & Cellar: The estate tends vines no younger than 50 years old, some reaching up to 100 years, spread over more than 20 parcels, all farmed organically. Wine is made super-naturally with wild fermentations and no added SO2—ever. They use containers honoring historical tradition: clay and grès amphoras, and traditional local woods including cherry, chestnut, and acacia. These are wines of soul, heart, spirit and flesh—always magnificent and titanic.