Decades of inspired and dedicated work ultimately bore splendid fruit: 20 original clones of Aglianico, Piedirosso (both red) and Falanghina (white), trademarked as Villa Matilde. In synergy with the University of Naples, his research team found the best surviving vines and patiently grafted cuttings onto new rootstock. In the 1950s and early 1960s, a successful lawyer named Francesco Paolo Avallone set out on a unique mission: bringing this favorite of emperors back to life. (The name, incidentally, comes from "falanga" rather than a particular variety: the varieties themselves being three, both white and red.) The resulting wine was to become the "immortal Falerno" sung by the great poets of ancient Rome. Where vine shoots had originally laid directly on the ground, it was in northwestern Campania they were first supported by wooden poles (falanga) above the soil. Villa Matilde concentrates on breed it does not produce endless lines of wines, but elite wines appreciated by those who understand fine wines, inspired by culture or by personal passion.Over 3000 years ago, on the lavic, mineral-rich slopes near Mount Massico and the volcano of Roccamonfina, Greek settlers reinvented viticulture, adjusting cultivation methods to the climate and soil of their adoptive home. In 2000, in fact, Villa Matilde inaugurated Tenuta Rocca dei Leoni in the heart of the Sannio zone, near Benevento, and in 2004 Tenuta d’Altavilla in the Irpinia DOCGs, in the province of Avellino, thus giving birth to new wines as well. Nor is innovation limited to just technology: it is the fruit of a creative imagination that centres its attention on the local growing area and its winegrowers.Īn ever-growing portfolio of wines is eloquent evidence of new vineyards and new wines, which testify to the self-confident identity of Campania Felix, ranging from the area of the Ager Falernus, in the province of Caserta, to the provinces of Benevento and Avellino. Going back to the past is in any case constantly enriched by revisiting and modernising that viticulture through use of state-of-the-art tools. Villa Matilde wines are the fruit of uninterrupted study and research aimed at identifying the grape varieties that yielded the ancient wines of this area, the aglianico and piedirosso vines that today produce red Falerno and the falanghina variety from which white Falerno is made. All of the winery buildings have been painted with a special white paint to compensate for global warming and the consequent greenhouse effect, and new trees have been planted to increase oxygen emission. Highly-insulating construction materials are being used, and preference given to natural ventilation systems to reduce electrical consumption. Particular attention is being paid to reusing the irrigation and cleaning water. 339 solar panels were installed on six of the winery buildings -without harming the overall harmony of the landscape-, capable of producing 100,00 kw of clean energy per year, thus avoiding the emission of 73 tonnes of CO2 per year. The use of alternative energy is one of the project’s key features. Villa Matilde currently operates with a composite system of solar panels with the partial support of a traditional electrical grid. The first actions were directed at water recovery and electrical savings, achieved through an overall facility recalibration and the exploitation of alternative energy sources. The project addressed the totality of the winery’s production and management activities through a series of integrated interventions, ranging from work in the vineyards to final distribution. In 2009, the Anno Internazionale del Pianeta Terra (International Year of Planet earth), Villa Matilde launched its “Zero Emissions” project, a comprehensive programme of environmental sustainability, with the objective of progressively reducing greenhouse gasses and of producing wine in an eco-compatible way.
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