Cantina Giardino
Appellations
History
Cantina Giardino was born in Ariano Irpino, in the high inland Irpinia of Campania, as a cultural project to rescue old vines and the traditional ways of growing and making wine — Antonio De Gruttola began experimenting around 1997 and the estate was formally established in 2003 with family and friends. Dismayed by the uprooting of old local vineyards for chemically-farmed international varieties, the founders set out to do the opposite.
They sought out old parcels of Aglianico, Greco, Fiano and Coda di Volpe, renting and later buying them from elderly farmers who had always worked naturally. Winemaking is uncompromisingly natural: spontaneous fermentation, no filtration or fining, no added sulfites — and a signature use of clay and grès amphorae (Daniela makes terracotta amphorae by hand) alongside traditional local woods such as cherry, chestnut and acacia.
The wines — among them the skin-contact Fiano 'Gaia', the Greco 'Bianco di Sirica', the Aglianico 'Le Fole' and 'Drogone', and the Coda di Volpe — have made Cantina Giardino one of the most beloved natural estates in the world. Most are released as Campania / Irpinia IGT, outside the region's DOCG frame.