Quintodecimo

A great wine is the perfect blend between poetry and science, between the imponderable and the measurable. It is essentially beautiful, a work of art. It is a sort of raw material’s transfiguration that springs from must as a statue springs from stone. The man who creates it is the one who carves into this stone, already having the end result in his mind. To do this, obviously a man must have a sound scientific background. He must have an understanding of several things; knowledge of the soil, the physiology of the grape, the biochemical processes underlying the transformation of grapes into wine, and the mechanisms of sensory perception. These represent the essence of my way of making wine, this magical invention of man, which has affected my entire life. It was because of these convictions that my wife Laura and I founded Quintodecimo in 2001.

A bond that had begun from birth in my father’s winery. My father, Michele Moio, a historical wine producer in the Campania region, who, in the 50’s relaunched Falerno, the famous wine which was beloved by the Ancient Romans. Home and cellar were one and my father included me in his magical world as if it were a game. Quite naturally, I began my studies in enology and my particular inclination for studying and passion for scientific research led me to a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Science and later a PhD in a research centre in Burgundy where, from 1990 to 1994, I studied several scientific aspects of wine aromas. Those years in France were very important, not only for acquiring knowledge, but also for discovering a fantastic world which shared the same concept of wine making I had always had. A vision that greatly strengthened in me a passion for wine that I began to finally live with great enthusiasm. When I came back to Italy in July of 1994, I felt an increased desire for personal space where I could express my creativity, ideas, and love for wine. Finally, in 2001, also thanks to my beloved wife Laura’s passion, my dream began to come true, creating a “life project” which gradually led to the birth of Quintodecimo. Today Quintodecimo is a little piece of land located in Green Irpinia in the Campania region. Together with Laura, I have made my fantastic dream come true; the dream of living in our vineyard with the strong ambition of giving life to great wines that are a pure expression of the terroir.

Our farm is in Campania, the region with Naples and its gulf, of Mt Vesuvius and Pompeii, of the beautiful islands of Capri and Ischia, and of wonderful coastlines. The Quintodecimo estate is located in a mountainous interior known as Irpinia. It is a beautiful area where climate, soil and vines coexist in an extraordinary balance that has fortified over the centuries to the point of creating ideal natural conditions for the production of high quality wines. The climate, because of the Apennine ridge, is characterized by abundant rainfall (average annual rainfall 600-800 mm), extreme temperatures, snowy winters and mild summers, with average temperatures which are never excessive. The Irpinia landscape is very original for an environment in southern Italy. The visitor, in fact, will not find sunny plains, hills scorched by the sun, or blistering heat. Instead, he will find endless greenery with lakes, woods and mountains covered, often up to the peak, with chestnut, beech and oak trees. Quintodecimo is in Mirabella Eclano in the heart of the Taurasi DOCG distribution area. It is located about 80 km north-east of Naples on the crest of a small hill facing northwest with a gradient of 25% to 460 meters above sea level 41 ° 02 '80'' north latitude and 14 ° 59' 41'' of east longitude.

The intervention by man should be targeted as much as possible to bring wine closer to nature by adopting a viticulture that is very respectful towards soil, microclimate, and plant biodiversity of the area. The primary objective is to obtain fruit that is intact and mature. In addition, the nutritional needs and the biological cycle of the vine must be in perfect harmony with the pedoclimactic environment of the area. In this way, you can limit anthropization and amplify the effects of the ecosystem and the climatic natural life cycle of the vineyard, creating those conditions for which the fragrance, taste and aroma of the wine may be the purest expression of the vineyard. The vineyard, unfortunately, does not produce full bottles of wine. The grapes must be vinified correctly, allowing its simple and natural transformation into wine, avoiding in any way, any abnormal deviation which could undermine, degrade or mask the aromatic defects and the expressive purity of the vineyard. This only happens if these conditions become a single entity and unrepeatable in its wine.

The cellar of Quintodecimo is "inside" the vineyard. This is a very important point. In this case, the latency between collection and fruit pressing is almost zero. The grapes are pressed to maximum freshness and without any possibility of alteration. In addition, this condition responds to another basic requirement of wine production - wine and vineyard must represent a single entity to convey the idea of eternity, of infinity. In fact, it is the winery that I've always dreamed of. Simple, small, basic, without any particular technology, made mainly to satisfy my own inner need more than impress. For me, the winery is a place of peace, of nobility, of silence, of meditation, of concentration. It’s a simple but rational place which encourages man to be patient. Going to the cellar means passing from light to darkness. For this reason, the winery must be submerged in the ground. It’s dark place par excellence. It is underground and under the house. It is a place that I always dreamed of for my wine and so that has also been achieved at Quintodecimo. The wine, from winemaking to packaging, is thirty steps under the house. Knowing that you have to go down these steps to reach it, contemplate it, touch it, and taste it really is a unique pleasure that fills me with joy.

The number five is repeated often in the magical world of wine. The vine’s flower has five sepals, five petals, five stamens and five nectars. The leaves are pentalobate which means that they consist of five parts and have five principal veins. There are five principal elements that interact with the vine; soil, climate, viticulture, oenology, and man. There are five critical points in the grape’s production (pruning, setting, deleafing, maturation and harvest) as well as the grape’s transformation into wine (harvest, pressing, tank fermentation, refining and ageing). Finally, man uses five senses to analyze wine: sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste. Five is also the number in the word Quintodecimo. This constant repetition of the number five led us to the five moons used to make the Quintodecimo logo.