San Salvatore 1988
”Our philosophy is to produce wines respecting nature and traditions and in our products carry the history and flavors of this land.”
The Azienda Agricola San Salvatore 1988 is a family owned and operated winery located in Campania region, close to Paestum, in the heart of the Cilento National Park and very near the amazing island of Capri. A place rich in history and multi-millennial tradition.
The winery is located in the same area where the Ancient Greeks began the colonization of Magna Grecia and where they, for the first time brought Aglianico, Fiano and Greco grapes. Their vineyards were located in the same places where ours noware.
Historically the family business started to produce Buffala cheese before producing wines. Wanting to stay environmentally friendly, to respect their terroir, their “soil”/heritage they launched, since the creation of the winery, a huge policy of CO2 reduction, recycling, no use of chemical products… and the use of Buffalo cowdung to manage the vineyard. Currently San Salvatore 1988 is extended about 110 hectares, with 24 planted in vines. The rest is dedicated for olive groves, orchards, vegetable gardens, woodland… in order to maintain a natural balance in “our land”.
Let’s go get to know more about this great place. Meeting with Giuseppe Pagano, owner and creator of the winery and Charly Annes Vinuesa, winemaker of San Salvatore 1988.
Where does the San Salvatore name come from? G.P. & C.A.V.: It comes from my father who use to produce wine in the Vesuvio area from 1963 to 1980 like my grandfather. Then my father use to commercialize grapes in the past in the Paestum area where my mother comes from. So they started with the properties of my mother producing 1000 quintals of grapes until 1974. At that period me and my brothers decided to get into the tourism sector managing a hotel. Then, after a period spent in Tuscany at Rufino I understood the art of hospitality like another concept of tourism offering the inclusivety of wines. Because of that experience I had like a flashback, I went back to the period of my childhood. Then, I made the decision to plant and vinify the grapes by myself. Thinking on more deeply, as I’ve been a restaurateur- for years, I perfectly know if a chef wants a good plate he needs good ingredients. The same is true about wine: for a good one you need good grapes, difficult to find in the market. You have to produce it by yourself. So I decided to invest on Cilento area buying some hills also because I wanted to help growing the health of my region (I believed it has very good potential). I started in 2005 and lucky for me, my consultants have always made me proud of them. On the label I chose to introduce the figure of the buffalo because it’s part of our economy, based mostly on mozzarella. In Piemonte the Spinetta label is showing a rhinoceros for example. Another aspect is the quantities of manure buffalo is able to produce, still being useful to create compost for the soil. Even if at the beginning the idea was to put on the label some catchword reminiscent of the temples of Paestum, eventually we thought such an image had the danger to be geo localized outside Italy. At the end we opted for a drawing esthetically close to the one made by the Greeks like the ones found on the ancient jars. Nowadays we keep going with this visual on all our wine labels to make a storytelling of Cilento and get people curious who saw them not just in wines but in the all issues of the terroir.
What are the most important particularities of your terroir?
G.P. & C.A.V.: We are in the area of Paestum trying for twenty years to get into the market proposing our cultivars like Falanghina, Fiano, Greco and Aglianico brought 3 thousand years ago by the Greeks.
It all began thanks to two friends of mine in 1992 and 1995 by them willing to replant what we call today “indigenous” grape varieties. The job was hard because we are living in - wild nature and we had to deforest as to recreate the hills with the best exposition able to produce quality wines. The soil is rich of stones and clay but we find also rocks and part of schist even sandstone in some places; everywhere the results are very good. Our oenologist is Mr. Cottarella, he has always aimed to produce quality wines. In every process all the details are important for the final results, mostly for us willing to reach the best excellence as possible as to compete in the wine market. We bet on the sustainability and in the native cultivars vinified separately not used as in the past for blended wines. Aglianico for instance is one the best grapes we have for its complexity, longevity and structure.
What is the main characteristic that may define San Salvatore wine in a blind taste? G.P. & C.A.V.: Very clean, with a good definition of style, good nose and a super drinkability. We are always looking for pleasure and salubrity. That’s why we have worked with the University and Mr Cottarella to produce in the most natural way with no oxygen and no sulfites added. Thanks to these choices we have noticed the best fragrances and explosion of the aromas on our wines.
What are your future projects?
G.P. & C.A.V.: We want to be looking at new great sites to produce wines. Today we have 75 hectares in different plots made with rocks, schists and red soils like in Provence. We are doing organic wine starting in the vines embracing the biodynamic rules. We have a very good oenologist and the only thing I must to do is give him the best grapes I can because he knows what to do.