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The long harvest of Gardini Arimei ...

Stanislao Milone has Calabrian origins and ancient farming traditions. He falls in love with  Montecorvo in Panza and builds a village consisting of houses, wine cellars, wine vats, tanks for rainwater storage and parracine and founds his farm that eventually gets prizes and awards.

In 2003, the Muratori brothers arrive in Montecorvo in the old estate of Milone and find ruins, destruction, decay and neglect, but the soul of what Milone had created, still lingered: the remains of ancient times, unexpected perspectives, a cellar entirely carved in the green tuff and then the vineyards, terraces; this is the heritage collection by Muratori, that boulder after boulder, with the help of master ‘parracinai’, bring the place to its former splendor... and beyond! The Giardini Arimei are in fact today not only a gem set in the landscape of the viticulture of Ischia but also a truly blessed by the Creator and made lovely by the skilled hands of the man who has not disfigured but rather extolled the beauty of an area already rich in splendor.
The adventure of the Muratori family was actually playing a few years ago and in a place far removed from Ischia, Franciacorta, where they established the first “pearl” of this wonderful “Archipelago” whose main motto was and remains “a territory wine”, to enhance the individual territorial suitability from the point of view of wine: the Franciacorta is produced only in Franciacorta, in the Tuscan Maremma in Sovereto only red wines, in the Sannio of Benevento the yellow wines of the south: Greek, Fiano, Falanghina, in Ischia a white doc (Stone Brox Ischia Bianco DOC) and a very special sweet called “of the three seasons and of the seven harvests” which will be discussed here recently.
A parenthesis really nice that we want to open the world of Gardens Arimei was just one of the “Harvest in the basement” during the course of the event, “Visiting the wineries”, the last September 16, which allowed a large group of tourists and islanders field test all the richness and beauty of the harvest to the Giardini Arimei, more than 3 hectares of terraced vineyards with parracine (dry stone walls in green tuff) that draw the vineyard landscape of the south-west side of Mount Epoimeo.
With Michela Muratori, responsible of the communication area of the Archipelago Muratori, we sought to better understand not only the success of this initiative but also the uniqueness of a harvest that lasts about three months. “It’s not often that a winery decides to open its doors at a time of the most delicate of the year which is just what the wine production. I think the request and the turnout has been huge. This makes us great pleasure because we thought the best way to understand what it means harvest is precisely to bring to life this time, the main part of which is in vineyard but then it’s back to the winery for pressing of the grapes and the draining of the wort and then in the cellar are tested even the basics - wine, that is already the must in fermentation or during fermentation. An initiative that we, as a group Archipelago Muratori, have decided to do this year, we have already made in Franciacorta, a Sovereto in Tuscany and replicate here in Ischia, which is the estate where we had higher turnout and success. Ischia for us is an added value for us and then our job was just to exploit the native varieties of the island of Ischia with the recovery of this winery from Calabria that we have found in this wonderful place, because the mere fact of coming here is really satisfying”.
It is here, therefore, that wine is born of the three seasons and 7 vintages:
“We decided to recover an ancient technique of our abilities by the climate of the island: the grapes are harvested at various stages of maturation and ripening and then allowed to ferment in the only winery. The first harvest is precisely to mid-September (summer) and then continue to the end of September/beginning of October with the second (autumn) until you get to the seventh and eighth sometimes even in the month of December; every time you add new grapes in the winery with a different degree of maturation and therefore with a different shade of flavor. Compared to the traditional raisin then the grapes are left overripe directly in the plant to end up in the winery where it is of course also purified from the lees and drawn off; after completion of the various stages of harvest and fermentation, the raisin is placed in barrels for 24 months and then put on the market”.
An old process but still unique on the entire island of Ischia which leads to the creation of a Passito which combines hints of tropical fruits, dried fruits, honey, flowers, Mediterranean spices, citrus and even a vague smoky mood emanating from the earth volcanic. From traditional sweet it is distinguished by its sweet taste but not cloyingly sweet and savory for its acidity. The intention of the Muratori Family it must in some sense symbolize the various facets of the island of Ischia.
In addition to this in Ischia at the Giardini Arimei is also produced a white doc, the Stone Brox Ischia Bianco DOC, which is nothing but the fruit of the first harvest of the summer, placed not in the wine vats but rather in steels, with the classic technique of fermentation.
The Giardini Arimei are the place where it is impossible not to stop with admiration, and from which to go home after really touched by hand all the wealth that our country can offer.