Cantina Collecapretta
Cantina Collecapretta
In the east of Umbria, towards the Apennine mountains and the ancient city of Spoleto, lies the tiny hamlet of Terzo La Pieve. The countryside here has an air of quiet, verdant timelessness and in the midst of this peaceful bounty is the Cantina Collecapretta.
Here, the Mattioli family produces the local DOC Spoleto wine and we were shown around by Annalisa. The simple statistics of this winery – 18,000 bottles per annum from six hectares – conceal a much more interesting history and Annalisa was happy to tell it. I have visited many wineries that are either exclusively producers of wine or perhaps wine and olive oil but in Cantina Collecapretta things are very different and the traces left on the land by succeeding generations tell part of that story.
It all began with Annalisa’s great-grandfather who was a forester and, whilst most of the land is now cultivated, the Barbera vines that he planted remain; sadly, how he came by these grapes that are normally found further north in Piedmont, the family does not recall. His son, Annalisa’s grandfather shifted production to cereals and he also produced wine, mainly for the family. He too left behind a grape variety, Greco, one that is normally found much further south in Campania. Annalisa’s father, Vittorio Mattioli, and his wife, Anna, have built on the foundations laid by his forefathers and continued with cereal production and also now has 2,300 olive trees.
However, their focus on wine production is where the biggest changes have taken place. From modest beginnings, where it was just produced for family consumption, to selling it loose or sfuso to the local community, through to their first bottled offerings in 2006, wine has become a major part of the family enterprise.
Whilst their approach to making wine is strictly organic – using spontaneous fermentation – sitting in the winery there was abundant evidence of their willingness to experiment. All around us were fermentation vessels of different materials: wood, steel and cement. The family produces a range of wines both red and white but we were there for the Spoleto DOC which is a white wine made from the Trebbiano Spoletino grape.
There are two Cantina Collecapretta DOC Spoleto wines and they are very different from each other. The first is called Vigna Vecchia or Old Vineyard and there is a good reason for the name. The vines were planted around 85 years ago by Annalisa’s grandfather. It is fermented and matured in steel and has a rich gold colour with a bouquet of red apples and passion fruit. The contrast on the palate is remarkable – here there is strong acidity and salinity with a full structure that Annalisa suggests is an ideal pairing for prosciutto, pork, or pasta with wild asparagus.
The second Spoleto wine is called Terra dei Preti or the Priests’ Land because the vines, which are 40 years old, were planted on a piece of land her father purchased from the church. Again, this is both fermented and matured in steel but after pressing the must spends four to five days on the skins which results in a strong golden orange colour. On the nose there are apricots but in the mouth again there is strong acidity and salinity with hints of citrus. This is a wine that will pair well with rabbit or chicken or, as Annalisa suggests, dishes with white truffle. These are both wines that would benefit from maturing for a couple of years in the bottle before drinking and will certainly age well.
Leaving Collecapretta behind and returning to the hustle and bustle of our modern existence we were left with the memory of a place that does not ignore the modern world but prefers to keep it at a safe distance. It is at once part of our world but at the same time apart from it.