La Vinicola di Antonio Gismondi

Cerreto Sannita

The Gismondi family has always roamed the mountainous hillsides of Cerreto Sannita, a small village in Benevento, an hour northeast of Naples. Antonio's parents, Maria and Pasquale, sold most of the grapes to the local cooperative winery, while producing a little wine for family consumption.

Antonio, far from his native Italy, ran a restaurant in the Catalan village of Bonastre, a few hundred metres from the Partida Creus winery. Naturally, he befriended Massimo Marchiori and Antonella Gerosa, the Italian couple who had been living in the area for many years. It was they who, visiting the Gismondi family in 2016, convinced Pasquale to present his wines out to the public. After a first exhibition in Cologne, and given the enthusiasm of their audience, they decided to gradually stop selling their grapes to the cooperative and develop their own production. In 2018, Pasquale and Maria retired and it was not until 2019, after having worked for some time in Zurich, that Antonio, his wife Anabel and their two daughters moved to Benevento.

At an altitude of 350-380 metres, the vineyards are spread over some 2 hectares of hilly, clayey and stony soil. The grape varieties are representative of local traditions, Malvasia di Candia and Falanghina for the whites, planted some 30 years ago on the south-western slopes, Sangiovese, Merlot and Freisa for the reds, planted just 6 years ago on the southern slopes.

The family has always cultivated its vines organically, without synthetic chemicals and in spite of themselves with peasant recipes similar to the precepts of biodynamics, following the common sense of the ancients.

The 2019 vintage marks Antonio's debut at the helm of the family estate, with the first four vintages featuring these aromatic grape varieties with saline and mineral notes. The wines are made as naturally as possible, without any inputs and aged in stainless steel tanks. The bottles are beautifully waxed and the label features the silhouette of the hills of Cerreto Sannita, the birthplace of the Gismondi family.