Vigna Reggia di Caserta, the First Harvest on September 25th. In the San Silvestro woods of the Royal Palace of Caserta
'The wines of this region are excellent, both white and red, and are among the best in the Kingdom, both for their quality and nature, and for the pleasant sensation they awaken in the palate. They go under the name of Pallarelli, and are highly esteemed at dinners.' Thus the Kings of Naples, among the most important monarchs in Europe, spoke of the Pallagrello wine, of the vine of the same name, which they also had planted in the gardens of the Royal Palace of Caserta, in the Bosco di San Silvestro, so that it could be produced directly in the 'Royal Delights'.
Their love for wine was so great that they wanted Pallagrello Bianco e Nero, as it is known today, in the Royal Vineyard. And if he had prestigious guests, to make a good impression, King Ferdinand IV gave them Pallagrello, the most precious gift: the wine from the "King's Vineyard".
With the fall of the Kingdom, the death of the Kings, the vineyard of the Royal Palace of Caserta in the Bosco di San Silvestro died. Abandoned by men and by the sky. About four years ago the Royal Palace of Caserta, trying to revive the monument not only as a gigantic museum, but as a living palace, rediscovered the existence of the Vineyard of the Royal Palace in the Bosco di San Silvestro, next to the more choreographic and well-known one of the Ventaglio, and immediately tried to revive it by entrusting it to an external concessionaire, a quality winemaker. It was the then director, Mauro Felicori, who decided that the Royal Palace had to revive all its functions, "return to being a living house". The challenge was epochal.
The Royal Palace of Caserta, directed by Tiziana Maffei, is a world heritage site, included in the list protected by UNESCO and the experiences of vines in UNESCO heritage monuments can be counted on the fingers of one hand. So the challenge of the rebirth of the Vineyard of the Royal Palace in the San Silvestro woods was a cultural and social challenge, but also a bureaucratic one. A revolution in the customs of the public administration that no longer had to conserve or at most protect, when it happened, but also produce.
"The ancient Bourbon vineyard comes back to life thanks to this ambitious project whose fruits we will soon see and taste – explains the Director of the Royal Palace of Caserta, Tiziana Maffei – The Royal Palace of Caserta, born as the maximum representation of prestige of the new kingdom of Charles of Bourbon, completed in its structure by the Bosco di San Silvestro, as well as many of the royal Bourbon sites, was conceived as part of a complex territorial production system. Nothing was left to chance and the magnificence of this cultural, historical and artistic heritage is made even greater by the concrete value that it had in everyday life for the royal family but also for all those who lived in this territory. One of the objectives of the Vanvitellian Complex is to recognize this important legacy and enhance it, giving space to the creative possibilities inherent in these fertile places, in the spirit of the contemporary museum that recognizes the potential of an institution increasingly at the service of society and its sustainable development.
The challenge, in practice, after four years, has been won. The concessionaire, the winery "Tenuta Fontana", based in the village of Pietrelcina, in Sannio, the birthplace of Padre Pio, has rediscovered, planted, lovingly cared for, every day, the Pallagrello vine, the ancient Piedimonte, and the vine has slowly been reborn. Becoming a grape that will be harvested for the first time next September. It was an incredible challenge for the company and for the Royal Palace, but the Royal Palace of Caserta, the only one in the world to face this adventure, has won. The original vineyard was the one that served the royal tables and cellar and had an extension of about five hectares, right in front of the Casina di San Silvestro, in the woods of the same name. The other known royal vineyard was that of the Ventaglio - so called because they were vineyards of different grapes, in a fan-shaped vineyard - which had a more representative, choreographic/monumental value.
Over the centuries the forest has eaten away much of this extension and only one hectare of free land remained, right in front of the entrance gate of the Casina. And it is precisely that hectare that has been entrusted to Tenuta Fontana, which has cleaned it up and relaunched it.
“The forecast is for a thousand bottles produced, in the best case scenario – explain Maria Pina and Antonio Fontana – It would already be a great achievement. But our main goal was to revive the Vineyard. And we succeeded. We are aware of how much this achievement means”. To help them, in the careful and difficult work of reviving the Bourbon Vineyard, two of the best professionals on the national stage: the Florentine oenologist Francesco Bartoletti; and the Livorno agronomist Stefano Bartolomei. Before them they had tried in a UNESCO site, to recreate an ancient vineyard, in the mythical Roman city buried by Vesuvius: Pompeii.
A first concrete step to revive the royal delights of the Kings of Naples. The Vineyard of San Silvestro at the Royal Palace of Caserta Surface area: 1,2 ha Soil: Sandy loam Cultivated vine variety: Pallagrello white and Pallagrello black from Massale selection Rootstock: 420 A Planting distance: 2,50m x 0,80m Brief notes on the vine variety The Pallagrello vine variety is cultivated in the Campania region and is very widespread in the province of Caserta, with white and black grape varieties, characterised by small bunches and perfectly spherical grapes, hence the name Pallagrello, meaning little ball, in the local dialect “U Pallarel”.
Historical Notes Originating from the locality of “Monticello” in the municipality of Piedimonte Matese (origin attested by an epigraph still affixed in this locality, created by order of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon who categorically prevented unauthorized persons from crossing the 27 moggi of Pallagrello vineyard), there are numerous historical findings, some even attributable to the Roman Pilleolata. Very famous until the end of the nineteenth century, one of the favorite wines of the Bourbons was made from it. The latter, who held it in high regard, offered it as a valuable gift to their guests and included it, with the name of “Piedimonte rosso” (from the foothill area of Matese where it originates and from the name of the municipality where the most consistent production is: Piedimonte Matese, formerly Piedimonte d'Alife), among the wines present in the menus and wine lists for special occasions, alongside the most titled French wines.
The infestations of powdery mildew and phylloxera in the early twentieth century, together with the social and political decline of the southern regions (and the contemporary industrial development of agriculture and winemaking in Piedmont and Tuscany), decreed its rapid disappearance and substantial oblivion despite its undoubted ampelographic qualities. It remained essentially as a blending grape in the vineyards of the farmers in the production areas, often confused with Coda di Volpe or with clones of Aglianico found in the area. The Vineyard of the Royal Palace of Caserta in the Bosco di San Silvestro. Its goodness and fame have therefore also made it the vine naturally destined to be grown for the sovereigns in the Royal Palace of Caserta. The Bosco di San Silvestro, which dominated the Royal Park, was chosen as the location. The Vineyard immediately became the most important for serving and supplying the royal tables of the Royal Palace of Caserta. But the fall of the kingdom into the hands of the Savoy with the abandonment of the royal palace naturally also caused the abandonment of the vine, which practically disappeared. Of the five hectares destined for vineyards in the Bosco di San Silvestro, when Tenuta Fontana began to recover the vineyard, only one hectare of land remained free for cultivation: the rest had all been reclaimed by the forest. Aspects related to future Winemaking at Tenuta Fontana.
The project linked to the rebirth of the San Silvestro vineyard passes through the maximum valorization of the Grape variety protagonist of this path. To achieve this goal and have a correct maturation of the wine, the Terracotta amphora was chosen as a container for the refinement of the white and red Pallagrello, in order to obtain a maturation of the wine without interference from the container and to keep intact the organoleptic characteristics of the Grape variety.
Article published on 14 September 2021 - 16:10
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