Petra Marzia, vineyards overlooking Mount Vesuvius
In Campania in the Vallo di Lauro, Marzano di Nola, where Agostino and Andrea Nappi, two friends with the same surname, who live in the same street of the same town, born in the same place, in the same month and year, are also united by an identical passion: the wine. Thus was born the winemaking partnership aimed at planting a vineyard, which will bear fruit in the years to come, as old as the "stones of the Marzano coast": thus the Petra Marzia winery was born. Initially dedicated to the production of the homonymous wine Petra Marzia - produced in 2017 with a blend of 70% Casavecchia, 20% Aglianico and 10% Merlot grapes which, after 12 months in oak barrels, continues its maturation in the bottle - the new “wine artisans” (as they like to call themselves) have decided to implement the production, integrating it with two noble wines from Campania: Taurasi DOCG and Fiano di Avellino DOCG. Both united by an elegant label, they take the name of "Parlami", a Taurasi reserve with an unmistakable "Hellenic-Aglianico" flavor, and "Ramia", a fresh and pleasant Fiano that is enjoying great success in terms of quality and of its relationship with the price.
Petra Marzia in the first year in the bottle:- bronze medal to DWWA points 89- two stars Veronelli Seminary- three Grappoli Bibenda 2021.. and he is in degustation at Robert Parker.
Interview with Agostino and Andrea Nappi , owners of the winery Petra Marzia,
1 - Your town of Marzano di Nola is very close to the famous Amalfi Coast and Salerno. Do you have a favorite spot on this coast?
The Amalfi coast, as well as the Sorrento peninsula, is about 40 km away: the most beautiful stretch of coast of the Amalfi Coast is in our opinion the final part, that is the stretch of coast that goes from Praiano to Positano, where the acrid perfume citrus fruits mix with the saltiness and the scents of the sea ...
2 - What about your favorite restaurant or pizzeria on the beach?
La Tonnarella in Conca dei Marini (Amalfi coast)
3 - From what distance is Vesuvius visible?
Can we al so see the volcano from your vineyard Vesuvius is about 25/30 km away and from our vineyard you can enjoy an incomparable view of the whole Vesuvius and the Gulf of Naples
4 - Your company started with Petra Marzia wine - produced in 2017 with a blend of70% Casavecchia, 20% Aglianico and 10% Merlot grapes. Casavecchia is an extremely rare red grape variety (some researchers have hypothesized that Casavecchia is the same as the ancient Roman variety known as Trebulano, mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia). Given this fact, can we assume that your Petra Marzia wine production is quite modest?
Yes, we have an average production of about 4000 bottles for year.
5 - In the shops of Riga, Vilnius, it is quite easy to find the famous wines of northern Italian and Piedmont: Amarone, Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera, but rarely famous southern wines: Taurasi, Fiano. What do you think: what is the reason fort his injustice?
We must start from an indisputable fact: Italy is one of the largest wine producing countries in the world and this is not surprising, given its position on the sea, the mild Mediterranean climate and a rather varied terroir that includes geographical scenarios of all types: mountains, sea, hills and flat areas. The wines of northern and central Italy are much more noble as the producers, traditionally "Savoy-Dante", began to deal with and therefore to haggle wines long ago. Marketing did the rest. All this does not want to take anything away from advertisers, they know how to do their job very well, undoubtedly an excellent wine, remaining practically unknown, is destined to remain an indigenous heritage, not to go beyond regional borders.
6 - So, another wine of yours, the famous wine of the Campania and Basilicata -Taurasi region. The first written document in which Aglianico is cited by Taurasi dates back to 1167, but also Tito Livio in his work Ab Urbe Condita noted "Taurasi from excellent vines" (we will refer directly to Livio Tito so that readers believe it faster, because if we refer to the opinion of some modern professor, well, for example, Luigi, who has his own vineyard, then some will have reasonable suspicions).
Taurasi is a wine that has its origins in the pre-Romanesque age: the main vine from which this wine is produced, Aglianico, was once called "Hellenic" to emphasize its Greek origin. In Campania it finds one of its best habitats, where it produces a medium-sized cluster, cylindrical-conical in shape, with around and blue grape. The etymology of the name "Taurasi" is to be found in Taurasi, the small village that the Romans made after defeating the Irpini during the III Punic War. Today the town of Taurasi, dominated by an ancient Lombard castle, enlarged by the Normans, is the center of the production of the homonymous red wine, the first historical evidence of which dates back to Tito Livio who spoke of "vigne optime". There are also several other historical citations referring to Aglianico in general and Taurasi in particular: at the end of the 16th century Andrea Bacci, physician of Pope Paul III, wrote that this wine "is prepared with rather dry grapes, made vigorous by the and preserved in excellent jars; it is there fore fragrant and sapid, pleasant to the taste, very pleasant and stable, with high nutritional power, invigorating for the stomach and limbs rather than an aperitif ".
7 - Can I have a characterization of your Taurasi from you?
Our Taurasi Riserva has a particular characteristic, we have chosen the best grapes located north of Taurasi, those most exposed to sunlight, we have pampered them, matured them and transformed them into wine which rests for an aging period of4 years of which 18 months in large barrels.
7b - And how is your wine different from other Taurasi?
Our Taurasi is bottled only and exclusively after a long maturation and evolution with the wording RISERVA.
8 - Your choice (white wine) for the Yellow Road?
Campania offers white grape varieties of excellent quality: among these the Fiano di Avellino (DOCG) and the Greco di Tufo certainly stand out
9 - And, if not a secret, plans for the future?
We are planting a vineyard in the upper Irpinia and precisely in Carife, a small and beautiful village located about 750 meters above sea level, with a unique climate of its kind, a land where an oil with noble organoleptic qualities is al ready produced, defined by lovers, one of the best oils in the world: the Ravece. Our goal is to (re) produce Aglianico Antico, that is, the ancient redberry that is still found today in old, mostly family-run vineyards, which has a more intense color and more genuine, more ancient flavor. Our projects for the future, therefore, we want to grow with new labels, new elite products and expand to make our desire to work with nature and for nature known in other countries, trying to bring many young people closer to our project. We want to involve them.
10 - Which white wine producer (from Italy or another country) do you recommend for the Yellow Road?
Apart from our Ramia, a very high level Fiano di Avellino DOCG, ... among the lesser known but no less valid producers, we must certainly include Luigi Maffini (Sa) and Don Salvatore (Sa).
Sergey Evtuhov,
author of the "Yellow Road" project
