Discovering a calyx full of experimentation and dynamism
A lovely room. A window full of shiny calyxes. Books and passions. On the top of them there is a book: “Art of wine, reds and whites of excellence”. In this simple title we find all the answers to our interview: we are about to meet the art of wine at Casale del Giglio. The elegant Mr. Santarelli sits with us. Casale del Giglio is one of the few wineries in Italy that produces purebred Petit Verdot. The story starts from the cultivation of 57 grape varieties: “Soon, after a couple of years we had quality grapes newly introduced in the Agro pontino: we had a new terroir to discover”. Casale del Giglio opted for a scientific approach to reach its well-known results and products. Among these grape varieties there was the Petit Verdot : “We were the first to understand and exploit the full potential of the Petit Verdot in Lazio”.
What about Mater Matuta? How was it born? “I have to make a premise. Lazio region applied a very bad management of its resources. Today things have changed: we all want to foster quality, but we need to get us back on our feet. Mater Matuta, made from Syrah and Petit Verdot grapes, is our symbol”. And it represents “a challenge successfully met in changing completely agro pontino’s wines”.
Casale del Giglio is not only France, it looks for a “contour”: “we found here in Anzio’s area Bellone variety, the ancient grape variety spread all over Lazio. So, we decided to make our own Antium”. The calyx collects a full range of sensations from which you can get both experimentation and dynamism: “our wine has the humble presumption of being a quality wine”. This quality it’s a matter of “mind” and “heart”, is not so common to find someone who has been producing wine for 100 years. At this point we ask a question, maybe too ordinary: what does wine mean to you? “Life, history, family”. These are the purposes Casale del Giglio aims to, “we could start again from a small town in L’Aquila, Amatrice, where wine Pecorino was produced at high altitudes.
“We finally got to the end, naked but with quality!”
– Antonio Santarelli –
We could start again from this town, by producing this kind of wine and turning it into sparkling wine”. Mr. Santarelli always keeps in mind his source of inspiration “France”, symbol of quality in the world. We said goodbye, but, before go, we take a last look to the shelves. Mater Matuta watches us, by its side “The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony”. Who knows if Zeus used to drink Mater Matuta! We smiled and walked away, followed by the gazes of the two, standing on that shelf side by side, challenging time and history.
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