Agricola Alepa, "Fuori di Riccio" 2021

The work of Paola Riccio at her family estate in Caiazzo – a village beset against the bucolic Caiatine Hills of inner Campania – has been an endeavor threaded by love. In her own words, “At some point in my life I had to make a choice: stay a city girl, or take care of the place in my heart.” What she’s referring to is her family’s winery & olive farm, in operation since 1986. It was in 2002 she took the plunge, returning to this place in the Campanian countryside that, since Roman times, has been tailor made by and for the vine. That ancient civilization called these lands “Campania Felix,” or, “Happy/Lucky Countryside,” so-called for its “lucky” ability to support the abundant production of grapes & wild flora, such as the olive tree. There is a thruline of something ancient in what Paola undertook as well: the principal grape the family works with is the ancient, native grape “Pallagrello,” in both its nero and bianco forms. And so, the preservation of the grape and its concomitant wine has survived the centuries & the vagaries of modern life – what you have in the share here is this selfsame Pallagrello bianco, a wine that has traveled across time, rooted in this place, to find its way from Rome to your glass.

A Jura-style oxidative white from Campania! 100% Pallagrella Bianco, hand-harvested and fermented with wild yeasts in stainless steel. A layer of flor is allowed to form, where the wine rests with no punch-downs for a few months. Bottled unfined, unfiltered with no additional SO2.