The Winery

Within just a mere 15 minutes of meeting Stefania and her family, we immediately knew this was a special find. Like all great stewards of their land, Stefania proudly starts our introduction by surveying her petite yet extraordinary fields. The tasting which followed was equally impressive so much in fact that we decided on the spot that we wanted to work together.

Stefania Barbot is an artisanal, family-run winery founded in 2010, born from a deep connection to the exceptional terroir of Irpinia. Located in the heart of the Campania region, in the area bordering Puglia and Basilicata, Irpinia is renowned for its prestigious wine denominations and its high-quality grape varieties. The territory coincides with the province of Avellino, known for its unique and exceptional viticulture and most certainly its wild terrain.

The vineyards are on a small plateau situated in Paternopoli, at an altitude of approximately 500 meters above sea level, in the village of Cerreto within the Taurasi area. Covering about 3 hectares, the vineyards are divided between old and newly planted vines. The younger vineyard consists of vines aged 15 to 20 years, trained using the "cordone speronato system", while the older vineyard is made up of vines aged 70 to 90 years, traditionally trained using the "starsete system" an ancient farming method passed down through generations.

The soil is clayey, calcareous, with a volcanic layer – deposits from sediments of the great Mount Vesuvious that imparts unique characteristics to the wines. The climate is continental, with significant temperature excursions between day and night, harsh winters, and cool summers. This perfect balance between climate, grape variety, and soil enables the vines to produce exceptional raw material for their wines.

In the vineyard, meticulous management is key: rigorous winter pruning, leaf thinning, and bunch thinning ensure healthy, ripe clusters harvested between late October and early November. Vineyard management is strictly organic. Harvesting is done manually, with careful selection of grape directly from the vines to ensure that only the healthiest fruit is brought into the winery. This results in a winemaking process that requires no additives and yields wines with an exceptionally low level of sulfites.

Overall, the winemaking can easily be described as minimalist. Using indigenous yeasts and very little intervention, Stefania is leading the new wave of unoaked Aglianico production. In fact, she owns 1 single 30 hectolitre French barrel which is used sparingly in the production of her Taurasi DOCG wine Fren!

Stefania Barbot, known for her passion and dedication to quality, is committed to producing wines that faithfully reflect the essence of the territory and the purity of the grape variety. It’s a tribute to the richness and generosity of the terroir, offering the drinker a sensory experience that is at once rooted in tradition and boldly contemporary.