WHERE THE ANCIENT RITUALS OF VITICULTURE AND OLIVE GROWING PASSED DOWN FROM FATHER TO CHILDREN
Born in 1898, Terre Stregate embodies five generations of passion for vineyards and olive groves, rooted in the heart of Sannio Benevento (Campania, Italy). The estate organically cultivates twenty-five hectares of native grape varieties, benefiting a unique micro-climate. The semi-underground cellar invites you to discover sincere, lively cuvées in harmony with their land.
Let’s meet the Lacobucci family (father, mother, daughter in law…and the three quite young grand-children !).
VertdeVin: Please can you speak about your terroir, about this place ?
Lacobucci family: We are in located in Sannio hills, close to the village of Benevento, dominating the Telesina Valley, between the Guardiesi hills and the Taburno mountain. Here the soil is very rich in energy, thanks to our microclimate the vineyards are able to absorb the sun and to maintain energy for the grape. The potential of our soil is high and we take care a lot of our terroir. We manage everything organically to maintain life in our soil, biodiversity… We use only natural treatments, for example after making olive oil we keep the residues to use them in the vineyard to bring some nutriments. Thanks to this, to the soil, to the climate, to the weather (even if it’s changed) we obtain a very fresh, a very versatile and high acidity wines.
VertdeVin: What allows to recognize your wines in a wine tasting ?
First of all, our family has always been the guardian of traditional local crops, thanks to which our wines and oils come to life, as if by magic. I think it’s not easy question not an easy exercise but a blind tasting can be a nice way to find something more in the grape. In fact, if there is a tasting with similar wines, from the same aera, same grapes and without any strong bad elements it can be difficult. We want to produce wines that totally respect the terroir, the vintage effect, clean wines, with purity, fresh, crispy, precise, vibrant and deep… After 2 or 3 years our wines do not become tired but keep energy. We have an evolution from floral aromas to fruitiness. For the Passito we harvested at the end of October to have the high acidity of the grape, of the Falanghina. We look for elegance, acidity and a balanced energy in our sweet wine.
VertdeVin: How many different cuvées do you produce ?
We decided from the beginning to be mainly focused on the most common grape for this area. We mainly grow Falanghina grape and Aglianico grape to obtain different versions, different styles. Concerning the Falanghina, we have four versions: the sparkling, the steel, the aged, and the passito. For Aglianico, we produce a steel wine and also a Reserva. However, we have completed the “white wines range” with a Fiano and a Greco (grapes). We also produce a rosato from Aglianico grape. In total we produce 11 different wines and two olive oils.
VertdeVin: Do you have any future projects ?
For now, we want to underline the knowledge of these two big grapes (Falanghina & Aglianico) but I would like also to discover some other ancient local grapes as the Sciascinoso grape and Sannio Beneventano. It’s a red grape that is opposite to Aglianico, with less tannin and a better balance.
Thanks to the Lacobucci family for the friendly hospitality.