Luigi Tecce’s farmhouse and vineyards are in the Taurasi subzone known as Sud-Alta Valle (South-High Valley). It’s one of Taurasi’s high-altitude growing areas, having a soil that’s layered with sand, limestone and Vesuvius’ pumice; it’s also the dwelling of Luigi’s 80+ year old vine-trees. There’s no enologist and no agronomist, Luigi works in relative solitude.

Luigi wasn’t groomed to be a farmer or vignaiolo, but after his father’s passing he returned home to take care of the property. His grandfather, for whom he held much affection, died shortly thereafter. All this left no time for any practical knowledge to be handed down to him from his father or grandfather. He didn’t know how to manage the property, let alone how to vinify wine. He did have many memories from living there as a child, and these guided him. Luigi says he “works more by feel, say 70%, and the remaining 30% empirically.”

So, in the sadness and loss of 1997, he started bottling for friends and family. He now has a total of five hectares of vines dispersed in 7 plots. As with great Nebbiolo, vintage differences play a large role in how the final wines taste. Luigi’s wines ferment with native yeasts, and nothing is added to or subtracted from the wine. His craftiness comes from vineyard selection and mixing of the final barrels, and from the time-consuming and careful tending during harvest, where he makes three passes.