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I Am Smitten
I walk alone the hot black-top road dragging my finger along even hotter caramel-colored stones that form the edge to this dramatic turn, and I can’t help but feel the romance here. The warm sun kisses my skin as the breeze plays with my salt-soaked strands of loose hair. Furore, laid out like a pearl necklace coiled back and fourth agains itself on a vanity, is another town just up this row of disobedient mountains that stray from the mainland.
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Perhaps the charm of this small village is what has captivated me, or is this dizzying affect from the many turns it took to make my way up here? Maybe it’s that so many of the walls are painted with murals of life and love? Either way I am smitten and certain that this is only the preface of the love story written here.
From the outside, one would hardly suspect to find what is hidden behind the unpretentious sliding wooden doors of Cantina Marisa Cuomo. Through the glass panes only glimpses of the shining metal, glossy bottles, and white boxes. If it hadn’t have been for impeccable directions and a bus driver that recognized the name, I might have missed it completely. And I’m think the camouflage of this winey is so great because it’s really an extension of a small-town family home.
A Dangerous Romance
Let me start at the beginning of this true tale as it was told to me by Dorotea Ferraioli, the daughter of wine makers and owners Andrea Ferraioli and Marisa Cuomo.
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It was in the midst of WWII when Dorotea’s grandfather, on her mother’s side, had left his family and fiance back in Italy. In the midst of battle in Croatia, a bullet changed everything.
Our soldier was wounded and surely fearing death when he was saved by a local family. As he healed from the shot, this Italian boy fell in love with beauty who nursed him. With desperation and passion now pumping through his veins, Dorotea’s grandfather risked imprisonment and smuggled his beloved into Italy, dressing her as a dead soldier.
Once back to Furore, the lover broke off his previous engagement and married his Croatian bride. Dorotea ended the story saying that that her grandparents had 13 children. Her grandfather made many of the tunnels through the mountains here and the first man he sought to help him was the spouse of his x-fiance. She also mentioned that her aunt married the son of this other family. “You need a big family to pick the grapes.” Dorotea said with a smile.
Another Love Story
Local wines had always been made and consumed, but the first to be bottled was under the brand, Gran Furor Divian Costiera. Began in 1942, wines bottles under this brand were considered IGT quality and “low quality” according to Dorotea.
But in 1980, a marriage would change everything. Andrea Ferraioli, son of a local renowned family of winemakers, married Marisa Cuomo. As a wedding gift, Ferraioli who was just over twenty years old, bought the Gran Furor Divian Costeria as a wedding gift for his bride.
“[My] mom never worked before in wine, but my father was good because his family worked grapes and made wine.” Dorotea said as she explained that the road to where they are today was full many mistakes. She said it took a while but, “step by step” the honed their skills and worked to make what they have.
Step by Step
In 1995, the Marisa Cuomo winery received D.O.C. recognition as one of three sub-zones in the Costa d’Amalfi. D.O.C. is a status of quality given to only particular vintners who meet a set of agricultural and wine making standards. This designation was only a milestone. Fervent work continued on make the perfect cuvee (blend) of juices to make the best wine the region could offer.
All their work paid off in 2006 when their top white wine, Fiorduva of 2003, received the “Oscar” of “Best Italian White Wine of the Year” by one of Italy’s most famous publications. This award brought the eye of the world to Marisa Cuomo and was only the beginning of many awards to come
Between 2005 and 2006 Marisa Cuomo wines received Three Glasses from Gambero Rosso, two silver medals for the Furore Rosso Riserva, and the a gold medal in Los Angeles for the Fiorduva.
Recently their 2008 Furore Bianco received the gold in the category of “white blend” for the international wine competition called the Golden Glass Wine Competition.
A Walk in the Vineyards
So what’s to grow grapes off the steep cliffs of Furore? Consider it tedious, hot, and full of tradition.
Summers here can be quite warm with an excessive amount of sunlight and little. This means the small amount of land they do have here is great for growing grapes that need to be stressed to produce a strong wine rather than an irrigated wimpy wine-like beverage. But when your town is small, your means of transportation are limited and bust be used across cliffs and ocean, one has a desperate need for growing more meal-friendly produce. This precarious predicament made for an amazing symbiotic relationship.
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To protect their gardens from the bright sunlight coming down and being reflected up, the people of the Amalfi have planted their garden’s under a canopy of trellised vines (called a pergola). But there’s a problem with planting vines in the same ground a vegetables. Vegetables need plenty of water and vines need little water. This problem too has been solved. The vines here are planted into the walls of the terraced land. To me, this unique agricultural technique is astounding. I love how clever this is and how the land is used to its fullest potential. I can’t wait to somehow implement this in my own garden.
Marisa Cuomo is quite small, with only 3 hectares of their own grapes and purchased grapes from other famers all totaling a mere 16 hectares. Dorotea says that although they are small and trying to grow, it's hard to find produce or purchase more grapes and keep the same quality. Marisa Cuomo pays a higher price than most wineries and picks only the best vineyards to produce the grapes for their wine.
It's not just the vineyards that make these grapes so valuable. It's the vines themselves. All Marisa Cuomo's grapes are from original rootstock of the historical grapes vines used in this area. This means that unlike most wineries around worldwide that graft the original vines to American rootstock for protection of an American louse that nearly wiped out the whole of Europe's vineyards, they use the whole plant un-grafted. This makes for some vines that are very, very old.
The Wine
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Hidden deep within a cave formed from chipping away the mountain behind the winery, are barrels and barrels of precious wine. What was once the home of this family is now a great wine cellar, the product of tedious workmanship and patience. It is not only gorgeous in here but naturally temperature and humidity controlled. Yet, beyond the cellar and her beautiful barrels, is the earthy wine that pools within.
Famous for both white and red wines, I have decided to list several of the most well know below along with information on where you can find these delicious wines in The States.
Furore Bianco
Grapes: 60%Falanghina & 40% Biancolella
Grown between 200-550 meters above sea level on a southern facing slope in dolomitic limestone rock, these grapes are hand-picked the first ten days of october. The wine is matured in Stainless steel tanks for four months.
Wine: Dull straw yellow color with delicate fruit aroma tart but fleshy. Both in the nose an mouth is a distinct flavor imparted by the soil of this region, dark, moist and earthy. The flavor is balanced, dry, and acidic. Something I personally love about the wines of Amalfi is the strength and zest they have, even the whites. In fact, if your eyes were closed you might think this was a red at first sip.
Fiorduva Furore Bianco
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| Photo from KLWines |
Grapes: 30%Fenile, 30% Ginestra, 40% Ripoli
Grown between 200-550 meters above sea level on a southern facing slope in dolomitic limestone rock, these grapes are hand-picked the last ten days of october. The juice is fermented in oak barriques for three months.
Wine: Bright yellow with golden hues, this wine reminds one of apricots, broom flowers, and a subtle hint of tropical fruits. The flavor carries the aromas through showing apricots, sultanas, and candied fruits.
Furore Rosso Riserva
Grapes: 50% Piedirosso (knows as Per and Palummo locally) & 50% Aglianico
Grown between 180-600 meters above sea level on a southern facing slope in dolomitic limestone rock, these grapes are hand-picked the last ten days of october. The juice is left with the skins for an intense 21 days, then undergoes malo lactic fermentation in new French oak Barriques. The wine is then matured for one year in new French Oak.
Wine: Red with dark ruby hues, the aromas are intense: blackberry, brambles, black currants, and blueberries. In the mouth it is smooth and well balanced with an aromatic finish of brushwood and spices.
To purchase these wines click here
Wine notes and information are from Marisa Cuomo unless noted.
Happily Ever After
In the end, it's never an end. Just as Marisa Cuomo has become a renowned winery, deemed the best winery on the Amalfi coast by many, it is ever changing, growing, and moving forward. Dorotea and her brother are constantly learning and helping to push their family tradition to the best it can be. I wish i could show you all the smile on Dorotea's face as we looked at the grapes that hung from the frames of the pergolas. or the ways her eyes lit up when she talked about her dreams fro the future of her family's legacy.
I've come to the conclusion that this village in itself is filled with love stories. Those of smuggles lovers, young teammates, big families, sweat and struggle, and of course the charm of the past and it's pull on the future. (sigh) . . . oh the romance.
To visit Cantina Marisa Cuomo's Web Site Click Here
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