Wine and Dine with Italy’s Piero Mastroberardino

With Piero Mastroberardino at Trattoria Gallo Nero

Bright sunlight breaks through the gray clouds as I enter Trattoria Gallo Nero in downtown Portland, Oregon. Greeted by warm smiles from my Italian meet up group in the small dining room, I catch a glimpse of Piero Mastroberardino, President of the Mastroberardino Winery in Campania. His lovely teenage daughter stands beside him as he converses with the guests. Sharply dressed in a stylish gray coat, his manner is authentic.

“I have visited your beautifully artistic cellars in Atripalda just this last September,” I inform him. He smiles and humbly accepts my praise. He is gentle and approachable.

Piero is here in the U.S. on a 10 day tour. After his arrival, he attended a memorial service for his father Antonio in New York. A legendary patriarch of the Mastroberardino family, Antonio refused to give in to the pressure and cultivate non-native vines. Instead, he fought staunchly to preserve the original varietals introduced by the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Piero is experiencing the fruit of Antonio’s labor. As President of the Mastroberardino empire, his winery is the only one given permission by the Italian state to research the ancient wine varietals grown in Pompeii and to replant them on their original plots. The resulting wine from the small yearly harvest is named “Villa dei Misteri.” (See my post, Mastroberardino Restores the Ancient Wines of Pompeii, and  ~ Resurrecting the Ancient Wines of Pompeii for more information.)

All of the wine is made at the cellars in Atripalda, Campania. Mastroberardino cultivates their vines on approximately 500 acres of mountainside terroir steeped with ash. The elevation can run high as Piero mentions some of the vineyards are not far from snow.

Wine tasting and menu gazing at Gallo Nero

 

Piero, Davide, and Manuela enjoy lunch and a chat

Davide (center) is a Florentine who is the chef for Trattoria Gallo Nero. His specialty is tasty Tuscan cuisine. Manuela, seated on the right, grew up just outside of Milan and leads the Italian meet up group. They are both very personable and fun to be with. Piero is also a business professor of economics at Foggia University during the winter while the winery slows down.

Piero talks to the group about the Mastroberardino winery 

 

Featured Mastroberardino Wines

Four whites and two reds are present for tasting. Every one of them embodies an excellent taste and feel on the palate, with a warm and earthy essence. Lacryma Christi Del Vesuvio, Tears of Christ, is made in both a red and white. Pleasantly surprised, I found each one to be appealing to my taste.

Following are a few photos taken during our lunch with Piero. It lasted most of the afternoon and ended with many well wishes and good cheer.

Piero chats with an attendee after lunch and espresso

 

Piero enjoys the chatter at the other end of the table

 

Per la buona salute!

We were honored to be in the presence of Piero Mastroberardino, a man who represents his fabulous wine estate with ease and finesse. He left a lasting impression of quality, distinction, integrity and a family pride that can only impress and leave one feeling richer for being there.

Below is a map of the Campania region in Italy and the Mastroberardino cellars/vineyards ~taken from the Mastroberardino website.

Mastroberardino Restores the Ancient Wines of Pompeii

Mt. Vesuvius Towers Over a Newly Planted Vineyard in Pompeii

Mastroberardino Winery has been introducing an incredible new concept to the wine world. With a long-standing family commitment of retaining the antiquity of their wine region of Campania in southern Italy, the archaeological superintendent of Italy has given Mastroberardino full rights since 1996 to discover and implement the ancient wine varietals that were grown in Pompeii prior to the devastation by Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. After years of on-site research, they have met with great success.

What methods were used in discovering these long-forgotten grape varietals? Did they plant vineyards in Pompeii? Have they produced a good wine from the harvest of these grapes?

Italian Talks has published my full article; Mastroberardino Masters the Ancient Wines of Pompeii. In this article, you will find the answers to these questions and more. The Mastroberardino family has put Campania back on the map as being the cultivators of premium wine that was once famous in antiquity. I hope you enjoy the article as much as I did while touring the cellars, researching and writing it.

Roman Baia, Forgotten Paradise of the Rich and Famous

Bay of Baia near Napoli

Once the exotic playground of Roman emperors Julius Caesar, Nero, and Caligula, the one-time seaside resort of Baia just north of Naples enticed and tickled the fancies of the first-century elite. Horace described it as “Nowhere in the world is more agreeable than Baia.” Pliny praised the medicinal qualities of the water.

Rich Romans built magnificent villas along the coastline that have since become submerged under water. Because the land of Baia and its surroundings are a volcanic area, the land has dropped six meters

In Italy? Hit the Beach!

Baia Beach in Salerno

Monterosso Beach, Cinque Terre

 

Italy is surrounded by water with countless coves, beaches and inlets to charm any swimmer or sunbather. Take a day out from your busy travel itinerary and experience Italian beach life. Sun, surf, beauty and gentle breezes will refresh and relax you. Splash in the Mediterranean, then come up for a soothing sole massage. Stay and watch the sunset dip behind the horizon as you sip a cool and refreshing drink. This is one of my best memories.

Portovenere Beach Scene

To begin, it helps to know what to expect at an Italian beach. Most of the beaches require a small fee to lounge on, called stabilimenti. Included in the price is a reassurance of a clean beach, an outdoor shower for rinsing off, toilets and a dressing room where you can leave your things, a good swimming area, a bar and often a restaurant. You can rent a lounge chair and umbrella for a small added fee which is worth it. Keep in mind that stabilimenti usually close before sunset.

Free beaches do exist, however. They are usually found at the end of the private beach areas. Generally, I have found them very acceptable but not as well-kept as the pay area and restrooms can be difficult to find.

Blue Flag beaches mean that they have been certified for high environmental and quality standards. Liguria boasts 20 of the cleanest beaches in Italy.

Following are six areas in Italy that have some of the coolest beaches. Depending on where you are, you can pick and choose which beaches you want to visit.

Liguria

Italian Riviera

Cinque Terre, the 5 small villages on the coastline of Liguria, have some great beaches and hiking. Vernazza is my favorite, with a small beach that is great for sunbathing, snorkeling and watching the little fishing boats come and go. Monterosso al Mare is another of the villages very popular for sunbathers and swimmers.

Sicily

Rabbit Beach, Lampedusa,Sicily

Rabbit Beach in Sicily is phenomenally popular with tourists and locals alike. It claims to be Italy’s number one beach for its obvious beauty; white beach, clear waters and natural environment.

Tuscany

Tuscany has white sandy beaches and whimsical seaside villages. Castiglione della Pescaia is a great affordable sea town with lots of water sports including wind surfing and sailing. For the largest beach town with a lively promenade nightlife, Viareggio offers the most.

Amalfi Coastline

Positano has always been a popular beach hang-out, beginning with the ancient Greeks and continuing with the Roman nobility (If they thought it was the best, than it must be). The busiest stretch of beach is between Amalfi and Positano. Rugged from erosion, the cliffs above you offer beautiful wildflowers and gorgeous views.

Positano

There are two public beaches in Positano: the secluded Fornillo beach and the mainstream Spiaggia Grande.

Puglia

To the heel of the boot….

Porto Selvaggio, in Nardo, Salento  is a wild cove of sea, rocks and salty ocean breezes that can be reached only on foot. Part of a nature reserve, it is sheltered by high cliffs and ancient watchtowers. The water is deep but crystalline and very clean. An added bonus….it is very close to prehistoric sites dating back 40,000 years ago. Worth a look-see in my book.

Venice

The Lido beach in Venice is convenient, has clean water and soft sand. Several vaporetto lines run from Venice to Lido for 7 euros.

Make a memory…..and head to the beach!

 

Roman Falernian Wine, “The Toast of Ancient Poets and Senators”

 

“…the only wine that takes flight when a flame is applied to it.”   

Pliny the Elder

The year is 115 AD, with Imperial Rome at the height of its power. The Commissatio is just beginning. Banquets were commonly hosted by an upper  class couple in their villa, with several guests invited to partake of delectable feasting and conversation. Let me explain the commissatio as a cheerful game of toasts, after the banquet, which goes on late into the evening with almost everyone …….drunk!   There is a whole cast of wines available, from cheap to vile, which would come from Vatican Hill or Marseille. But, a high-class commissatio offered the most excellent wine to be had; Falerno, wine of the gods, produced in northern Campania, the region of Naples. Wine was poured into a krater, and goblets dipped into it to be hastily consumed in one gulp as part of a game. Pliny the Elder and Horace raved about this particular wine as supremo above all others. They lifted Falerno into a legendary status.

As legend goes, Falernus, an old Roman farmer, was visited by Bacchus on his humble farm on his mountain. Falernus prepared him a simple meal, and in gratitude Bacchus filled all the cups at the table with wine. When Falernus awoke the next morning, Bacchus had vanished. He looked over his land and saw that his entire mountain, Mt. Falernus, was covered with vines.

Bacchus

Falerno was grown in three vineyards on the slopes of Mt. Falernus, or Mt. Mossico (on the border between Latium and Campania). Today the area encompasses the Falerno del Massico DOC, where the primary grapes grown are Falanghina, Aglianico and Piedirosso.

Falerno, a predecessor to ice wine, was originally a white wine with a stratospheric  alcohol content of 16%.  It was produced from late-harvest grapes that had experienced a frost or two and let to dry. The wine was aged for 15-20 years in clay amphorae before drinking. It was amber to dark brown due to oxidation. Varro, in 37 BC, recorded the fact that Falernian wine increased in value as it matured. Pliny the Elder mentioned that Falernian from the famed vintage of 121 BC (vintage of a lifetime), was served to Julius Caesar in 60 BC at a banquet celebrating his conquest of Spain. This particular vintage was celebrated for decades.

Made from the Aglianico (red) grape and/or Greco di Tufo (white) grape, Falernian became a byword for luxury. Recorded as having a strong, fruity flavor, Pliny described Falerno as three types–“the rough, the sweet and the thin.”

Falernian stood the test of time well as a top-ranking Roman wine for at least five centuries. Popular among the emperors and the wealthy, not all of them thought highly of it. Marcus Aurelius, an emperor who usually shrugged at the finer things in life, kept a good perspective about this wine: “After all”, he wrote, even “Falernian wine is just juice from a bunch of grapes.”