Di Majo Norante, Stevie Kim, and the reds and whites of Molise

Despite the famous meme “Molisn’t”, the small Italian region of Molise has its own important representation on the country's wine map: today's video aims to discover one of the excellences of the province of Campobasso, namely the Di Majo Norante winery, active since the 1800s in wine production.

We are in the municipality of Campomarino (CB), associated with both the AN City of Oil and the AN “City of Wine”, due to the productions that dot its fertile territory, in the company of Alessio Di Majo Norante, a winemaker who has always defended native biodiversity and local grape varieties, with which he produces ten labels.

Alessio, what are the characteristics of the territory that surrounds us?

As you can see, the surroundings do not bear the signs of intense industrialization, on the contrary. We are surrounded by the purest nature, which we respect in our cultivation methods: this gives the fermentation a harmonious character that is recognizable in the glass. For red wines, we have Aglianico, Montepulciano, Tintilia, and Sangiovese varieties in our estate, while for whites we have Greco, Falanghina, and Moscato.

Do you have a favorite grape variety among those you have listed?

I must say no. I have five children and for me, the grapes are like them; there isn't one that surpasses the others. However, my father Luigi started this activity in the 1960s and one of our labels – Don Luigi – takes his name and that of one of my sons. If I had to indicate my flagship wine, I would probably point to this one, a pure Montepulciano. The Sassius, on the other hand, is a 100% Aglianico.

Our production has reached a volume of 600,000 to 700,000 bottles, with 60% to 70% being red wines. We export roughly the same percentage of bottles, with just 30% of the production remaining in the national territory.

What are the most successful wines you produce?

It obviously depends on the geographical area. In America, we mostly export Sangiovese and Ramitello: the latter is a blend made up of 80% Montepulciano and 20% Aglianico.

The white wines, although they are less requested, give us some satisfaction, particularly the Falanghina. Besides being a historical wine, highly appreciated by the Samnites, it has an acidity that allows pairing with fish dishes; the prices of our wines are also reasonable, allowing more people to taste them.

Today's journey ends here, but within the Spaghetti e Mandolino magazine, you can retrieve the previous episodes of our podcast, starting with the latest episode filmed at Castello della Sala!