Fontana Blanc 2022

Fontana Blanc 2022,

La Vinicola di Antonio Gismondi

Fontana is a rare, organic, biodynamic, and natural white wine made by Antonio Gismondi in his Benevento terroir (Campania, Southern Italy). Classified as Vino da Tavola (the equivalent of our Vin de France), it is made entirely from the local falanghina grape variety. It is, in short, a falanghina beneventano, or a falanghina wine from Benevento. Falanghina is a very old variety that, in ancient times, formed the basis of the famous Falerna cru (falernum).

In the vineyard and in the cellar

The thirty-year-old falanghina vines grow on stony (limestone) and clayey soil at an altitude of around 350 meters, facing southwest. The harvest is directly pressed and all vinification is done in stainless steel vats. No sulfites are added, no filtration.

Tasting

On the nose, white flowers, exotic fruits, Mediterranean plants, garrigue, maquis: Fontana is a fragrant, sapid and generous white wine. The retro-olfaction is very fruity. Opulent and powerful, round, slightly acidic, very aromatic: the quintessence of Campania white wines, through the talent of Antonio Gismondi. With a very smooth and opulent finish, Fontana offers good aging qualities. It can be drunk now, but it will also age well. Pair it with fish, seafood, and oysters. It will also pair well with Asian and lightly spiced dishes, as well as canned fish, as well as sardines in oil and smoked fish. In fact, anything goes when it comes to pairings.

Learn more about La Vinicola di Antonio Gismondi

Antonio and Anabel Gismondi's winery is located in Campania, in Cerreto Sanita, in the Benevento region. A microclimate cools the land in this area: humid winds from the Tyrrhenian Sea collide with the first ramparts of the Apennine mountain range, causing condensation in the air. Add to this a thermal inversion phenomenon between day and night, and the freshness of the Antonio Gismondi wines is easily explained.

A family estate

For generations, the Gismondi family has cultivated vines here and made wine using the most traditional and natural methods, to which are added those of biodynamics. For a long time, of the fifteen tons of grapes produced each year, one ton was reserved for on-site winemaking for family consumption, the rest going to the local wine cooperative. It was the meeting with Massimo Marchiori and Antonella de Partida Creus that decided Antonio and his wife Anabel to start producing natural wines on site for the entire harvest.

Clay, pebbles and local grape varieties

The vineyard, two hectares, is located between 350 and 380 meters above sea level, on clay, loam and pebbly soils, with two-thirds facing due south, planted with vines around six years old. The rest faces southwest and corresponds to the Pietre and Cerreto cuvées, with vines thirty years old. The grape varieties are Merlot, Freisa and Sangiovese for the reds, and Falanghina and Malvasia di Candia for the whites.