Casa Brecceto

We are very proud to introduce you to the magical wines of Casa Brecceto. Located in the village of Ariano Irpino, high in the Apennine Mountains of central Campania -- over 700 meters of elevation -- this tiny collaborative cantina is doing work that we have been waiting to see from Campania ever since we started importing wine.

Casa Brecceto, the winery as we know it today, was founded in 2018 by a small group of local friends/winemakers/agro-enologists, but, they started out over twenty years ago as the “Arajani Enoprogetto”, exploring the wine potential of their ancient Ariano Irpino and Irpina River valley surroundings. The group was founded in 2001 by Oto Tortorella (who died in 2020), Fortunato Sebastiano and Igor Grassi. For the last two decades, this group have been working with native grape varieties in secluded and often abandoned vineyard sites deep in the backwoods of Campania. Until 2018 the group worked quietly making "garagist" style wines in extremely small quantities. These wines showcased the potential of the land, grapes and their winemaking craft as they experimented with fermentation, aging vessels and agricultural techniques all at once. The wines never made it beyond a handful of local trattorie or curious friends and wine lovers...that is until now! The new and more official winery of Casa Brecceto is now headed up by Maria Teresa Ciccarelli (MTC as she prefers to be called) and is under the agronomic guidance of Fortunato Sebastiano.

Today, Casa Brecceto owns a little over 2 hectares of vineyards and farms an additional 2 hectares in and around their village, collaborating with local farmers. They work with native grape varieties including Fiano, Greco, Coda di Volpe, Piedirosso, Aglianico and Sciascinoso, with a total production of ~8500 bottles at this time. The land is worked using a combination of certified organic practices as well as biodynamic preparations when necessary. Soils contain a mixture of various calcium rich clays, volcanic sand and marne deposits making for some very complex wines.

In the cellar spontaneous fermentation is used with minimal sulfur additions only if/when necessary. Vinification takes place in small, open top fermenters without temperature control and they use a combination of de-stemmed and whole cluster fruit for various wines. Aging takes place in a combination of stainless steel, anfora and old "botti grandi" oak barrels, depending on the wine being made.

Screenshot 2021-09-27 at 12.55.14 PM.png

Featured

Granma Bianco Frizzante

Falanghina with a brief skin maceration (2 days). Spontaneous fermentation. Initial fermentation in stainless steel. Re-fermented in bottle using Greco di Tufo must. No temperature control, no filtering or fining and minimal sulfur additions (if necessary).

Granma Rosato Frizzante

100% direct-press Aglianco. Spontaneous fermentation. Initial fermentation in stainless steel. Re-fermentation in bottle with Piedirosso must. No temperature control, no filtering or fining, and minimal sulfur additions (if necessary).

Bianco

Fiano, Greco, and Piedirosso with a brief maceration of 2-3 days. Spontaneous fermentation without temperature control. Aged in stainless steel. No filtering or fining and minimal sulfur added as necessary.

Un Litro di Scazzuso Bianco

A blend of Fiano, Coda di Volpe, Greco di Tufo. Spontaneous fermentation without temperature control. Aged in a combination of stainless steel and anfora. No filtering or fining and minimal sulfur additions as necessary.

Lapoderosa Bianco

100% Coda di Volpe with brief skin maceration (5 days). Spontaneous fermentation. Aged in old "botti grandi" oak barrels. No temperature control, no filtering or fining, and minimal sulfur additions (if neccesary).

Sassafrass Bianco

100% Greco di Tufo with a week of skin maceration. Spontaneous fermentation without temperature control. Aged in old botti grandi. No filtering or fining and minimal sulfur additions as necessary.

Nadar Bianco

100% Fiano with brief skin maceration (4 days). Spontaneous fermentation. Aged in anfora. No temperature control, no filtering or fining, and minimal sulfur added (if necessary).

Rosso

Aglianico and Piedirosso with 5-7 days maceration. Spontaneous fermentation without temperature control. Aged in stainless steel. No filtering or fining and minimal sulfur added as necessary.

Un Litro di Scazzuso Rosso

A blend of Aglianico and Piedirosso. Spontaneous fermentation without temperature control. Aged in a combination of stainless steel and anfora. No filtering or fining and minimal sulfur additions as necessary.

Picaro Rosso

100% Piedirosso with a week of skin maceration, partly with whole clusters (around 40%). Spontaneous fermentation without temperature control. Aged in stainless steel. No filtering or fining and minimal sulfur additions as necessary.

Guizzo Rosso

80% aglianico 20% piedirosso (with a small dash of a rare red variety called Camaiola in certain vintages). Partially destemmed, partially whole cluster fermentation. Aged in anfora. No temperature control, no filtering or fining, and minimal sulfur additions (if necessary).

Pitatza Rosso

100% old vine selection of Aglianico. Spontaneous fermentation. Aged in old "botti grandi" and only released when the wine is deemed ready. No temperature control, no filtering or fining, and minimal sulfur additions (if necessary).

Screenshot 2021-09-27 at 12.56.21 PM.png

Screenshot 2021-09-27 at 12.54.40 PM.png