Cantine Matrone, Territorio de Matroni Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Rosso 2020

The winery with its 4.5 hectares of vineyards is located in Boscotrecase in the heart of the Vesuvius National Park. The grapes used for this wine grow at an altitude between 30 and 280 metres a.s.l. on soil with volcanic sand and ashes. The destemmed grapes are spontaneously fermented in steel with “pied de cuve” and left on the skins for 2 days.

The Matrone family has been cultivating vines on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, just east of Naples, since the 1700s. Fast forward to this century, when Andrea Matrone and his cousin Francesco reappropriated the original 18th-century family cantina and 2.3 hectares of vineyards on the southern slopes of Vesuvius. If Etna’s volcanic wines are nobile, Vesuvius’ are wild, with potassium and iron-rich volcanic soils providing funky influences. Farming is in conversion to organic (it will be certified from 2024) and fermentations are from pied de cuve from local yeasts. Total production is 10,000 bottles. This is another compelling, young producer springing from an old family tradition – a combination that increasingly is making some of the most exciting wines in Italy.