Claudio Cipressi

The Cantina di Claudio Cipressi is located in San Felice del Molise, in the province of Campobasso. A territory characterized by an agricultural landscape and a rich natural heritage. Claudio Cipressi contributes with his activity and passion to enhance this terroir and especially to promote the excellence it can offer. The estate covers a total area of 16 hectares, cultivated with the typical grape varieties of the region: tintilia del Molise, montepulciano, falanghina, and trebbiano.

For Hemingway, wine is one of the greatest signs of civilization; for Claudio Cipressi, it is the hallmark to enhance the land where he was born, Molise.
Today, after recovering Tintilia, a DOP that amazes in the glass, he is recovering two other native white grape varieties.
A region with a unique geographical morphology that preserves a largely unspoiled landscape, numerous excellences, and many potentialities, even in the vineyard.

This is why Claudio, with the enthusiasm and conviction of new things, cultivates every day sixteen hectares of vineyards with native plants: eleven of Tintilia del Molise, three of Montepulciano, two of Falanghina, and one of Trebbiano.

His method is strictly organic for vineyard cultivation, a respect for the environment that certifies the company as BIO starting this year:
The selection is almost meticulous for the grapes chosen for harvest, as nature presents them healthy and of excellent quality, with a manual sorting of each bunch.
In the cellar, Claudio adopts traditional, non-invasive processing methods, with great attention to the temperatures of the musts and the careful use of barrels to refine the wine without interfering with the fruit, altering a flavor that he instead wants to respect in every sip, reflecting the personality of the original grape variety.

A starting principle that is, according to Claudio, the prerequisite for daily improvement in the quality of his products, with the desire to genuinely compete the wines of Molise, those of vintner Cipressi, with other great Italian wines.

He applies a minimalist viticulture in relation to the limited territorial extensions, almost entirely marked by altitude, except for the short stretch of coast between Termoli and Campomarino and surroundings. This signifies an almost extreme, difficult, and challenging viticulture, which favors the cultivation of varieties borrowed from neighboring regions: montepulciano and trebbiano from Abruzzo, falanghina and aglianico from Campania, and nero di troia from Puglia.

In this context, there are still well-equipped and cutting-edge companies like Claudio Cipressi Vignaiolo di San Felice del Molise, followed by winemaker Vincenzo Mercurio, dedicated mainly to spreading and promoting beyond borders the only self-sufficient grape variety from Molise, tintilia.