What is Alepa’s story?
Everything started from the deep bond I have with this land. I was born in a city (Caserta), but my mind has always been in the countryside, between the Caiatine Hills, where my colonial style family estate is situated. This land, close to the Caserta Royal Palace, is rich in biodiversity and it has always been my summer home during my childhood.
I used to be an investment banker, but at one point in my life I decided to take charge of my family estate and turn it into a proper winery: “Alepa“. I love spending time on my own in the bushes, just me, my dogs and the magnificence of nature. Living in a city always gave me anxiety, therefore moving to the countryside gave me the possibility to live in symbiosis with nature, look at seasons through the cycle of plants and nature and consequently experience the passing of time with a different perspective. Every two weeks I notice little changes just by observing trees and the behaviours of birds.
The only thing I miss about the city is going to a café for a brioche and an espresso.
What is your mission as a wine producer? What is your philosophy?
Having a minimum impact on the environment has always been my first concern. By definition agriculture has an impact on the land but I aim at producing wine respecting both nature and the raw material: grapes. I use natural fertilizers such as compost, plant material to tie the vineyards, sulphur and copper in limited quantities.
For what concerns the cellar I use the same approach: I use no oenological adjuvants, no clarification but I let the indigenous yeasts do their magic. Every process is done respecting the right times, to ultimately have a wine that reflects all the characteristics of our territory and represent this area of Campania.
My ambition was to rediscover ancient wine grape varieties which date back to the King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon. This variety is called “Pallagrello”, it has both a red and white variety, and its cultivation has been abandoned in the past decades.
I enjoy experimenting new techniques and from the vintage 2016 I started making “Privo l’Eretico”, made with the white variety of Pallagrello which macerates for 80 hours with the skins and then ferments spontaneously due to the indigenous yeasts. I grow as well other grape varieties typical from Campania such as Falanghina and Greco.
I have an edible garden and a small production of olive oil.
What are the difficulties of being a woman in the wine industry?
The thing that drives me crazy the most is when people come to visit my winery and talk only to my partner believing he is the owner of “Alepa“. We live in an extremely paternalistic society, where many men cannot stand the idea that a woman can be successful on her own. Especially in the wine industry, the mentality never changed and many believe that my partner helped / guided me to build my business. I often am a victim of these behaviours and I get tremendously angry every time this happens. I wish I could deal with it more calmly!
What is the advice you would give to a young wine producer ?
If you want to become a wine producer you need to do two things: both drink and travel a lot. These two things will allow you understand the kind of wine you want to produce and how to achieve it best!