Luigi Maffini - Campania, Italy
Gigi!
Limestone and Salt
2/1/16 Dusk: Giungano, Campania. "In about a half hour, we will be able to see the lights on the Amalfi coast!" Luigi Maffini is speaking. Me? I'm happily sipping the white wine "Kratos", his stunning Fiano from the steep vineyard just below his glassed-in living room we are tasting in. The view is imagination-expanding: even though we are a full fifty miles from Costa Amalfi, in the dusk the darkened edges of Amalfi's silhouette is etched by the lighter sky in the distant horizon. As T.S. noted "if all time is eternally present..."
Maffini and his wife Rafaella, are the winemaking stewards of this remarkable terroir in Cilento; a part of SW Campania usually missed by tourists and wine lovers alike. (Exploring carefully, you'll find tiny patches of wine nirvana scattered all across Italy.) Cilento- things move slowly there, the locals sometimes smile and say "cil- leeeennntoe"- is in the province of Salerno off the Tyrrhenian Sea. This area is one we've stuck wine gold with recently with the lovely wines of Azienda San Giovanni. Ida and Mario's San Giovanni winery is directly on the sea a little further north, while at Giungano, we are miles further inland and way up above the sea.
LUIGI MAFFINI:
STRAIGHT OUTTA CAMPANIA
Truth be told, we first tasted and loved Luigi's wines well over a decade ago. Having always managed to miss Campania on our annual Italy travels for too many years, we spent a week there last spring and then we quickly hurried back only one month ago for three more days of vineyard visits.
Campania is a land of treasure for great wine where (fortunately) many of the best wines are still affordable. Experience makes clear to us Campania is one of Italy's most diverse regions. For example, if you've tried I Cacciagalli's anfora wines we introduced last winter, or the aforementioned wines from miniscule Azienda San Giovanni; you know. These Campanian wines are under the diverse umbrellas of the "Roccamonfina IGT", the "Paestum" IGP and Maffini's "Cilento" DOP designations.
One of the Maffini vineyards.
CANTINE MAFFINI
As Luigi said to me " we are not Taurasi, our soil is not volcanic, our yields are lower, at 350 meters our altitude is lower and we harvest sometimes a month earlier." Though his father was making wine back in 1974, after Luigi's first vintage in 1995 he said he was sure his terroir was special. These days, of the 8,000 cases he produces, about two thirds are whites coming exclusively from the famed Fiano grape. The Maffini vineyards are in two locations- Giungano in the high hills, and Castellabate (a UNESCO historical site) to the west and close in to the sea.
A further delineation demonstrating Cilento's distinction from the wines is the soil. As Luigi notes, the Cilento terroir is not volcanic like much of the region. The local soils are dominated by a particular clay and limestone blend the locals call "flysch del Cilento"- a kind of stony earth also found in parts of Friuli and in some Austrian vineyard landscapes.
We find Cilento Fiano more crisp and airy allowing with flavors "closer to the ground" than in other parts of Campania, ditto Cilento's Aglianico with its lower alcohol. These wines are "higher altitude mountain-textured" vs. more weighty, tannic wines from the northern and eastern boundaries of Campania.
"We are the parents of Lia and Pietro,
three dogs, more than 50.000 vine plants. Hares, foxes,
hedgehogs, hawks and wild boars…"
-Luigi and Raffaella
WHAT WE HAVE NOW
Looking for a $20 bottle that tastes like a $30 bottle? Versatility to go with everything at the BBQ? What about a wine that authentically and lovingly shows its place of origin at the same time?
We have several here for your consideration.
Luigi has unique terroir within Campania - his soil is not volcanic, but has limestone and clay. You can see jagged limestone cliffs as you drive up the snaking road to his vineyards and winery. The coastal influence gives airflow to the vines and adds an unmistakable salty finish to the wines.
We were lucky to spend a day in the vineyards and cellar with Luigi himself last spring (can we go back?). Luigi is stepping it up (as always) with an expanded facility and new vineyards, which one of his young daughters will eventually take over. He is working on planting vines at (even) higher elevations, so that he can blend parcels from lower and higher elevations. With this clever planting, his wine can adapt to warming temperatures. Luigi is a forward-thinking guy doing amazing work. It shows, and his wines are best-sellers at the shop.
(E, LB)
Click on each wine for more detail.
