OUR PARTNER
Guastaferro
Guastaferro
Back in 2013, after his university studies in Agricultural Sciences and a brief stint in the corporate world, Raffaele, driven by his insatiable ambition and inspired by a special encounter with Campania’s legendary winemaker Antoine Gaeta of Villa Diamante, decided to join the family winery with a clear objective: to elevate Taurasi to the Olympus of Italian wines.
Located in Taurasi, owning two beautiful contrada, Piano d’Angelo and San Marco at 350m above sea level. The cantina has about seven hectares of vineyards on volcanic soil cultivated with Greco (1ha) and Aglianico (6ha) mostly aged between 60 and 80 years old. Most impressively is the 1.5 hectares in contrada Piano d’Angelo that planted with some of the oldest pre-phylloxera vines in the world aged between 180 and 250 years old. From this vineyard, Raffaele produces his legendary Primum Riserva, highly praised by international top wine critics as one of Italy’s most noble red wine.
Raffaele is supported by enologist Fortunato Sebastiano, a local legend in Irpinia that has deep knowledge of Campania’s local varieties and unparalleled vineyard management experience for over 20 years working for some of the most prestigious wineries in the area. Raffaele and Sebastiano are both focused on producing pure and clean expressions of the fruit of Irpina and for this reason they follow a traditional and minimal intervention approach in their winemaking.
Raffaele produces a limited quantity of his top Aglianico wines, specifically 3,300 bottles of Aglianico Memini and 2,600 bottles of the mighty Primum Riserva. Both fermented in stainless steel tanks which take 20-25days. Follow by maceration (the Memini 12-15 days and the Primum 30 days or more) and aged in used large 25hl French oak (the Memini for 6 to 8 months and the Primum for 12 to 14 months). After bottling, both wines rest in the winery for about 6 to 8 months before release. As for Primum Riserva, 30 days of maceration after a month of fermentation, follow by a longer oak aging in French oak for 22 to 24 months. The wine will then rest in bottle for more than a year until Raffaele feels that the wine is ready to release. However, as with most Aglianico wines, they express their fullest potential after time spent in the cellar. Once open, the experience is explosive. Raffaele’s wines are deep and ethereal, with broad, rich and penetrating aromas on the nose and seductive fruit-driven notes.
Raffaele is building a sensational global reputation and his tiny production sells out upon release.
Guastaferro Vineyard
