Janare

The origins of the project

Janare was introduced under the leadership of La Guardiense president Domizio Pigna as part of a broader programme of structural renewal, technological modernization and renewed attention to the cooperative’s brands. Its precise launch date is not recorded, but the project was already established by 2009.

A major precursor was the beginning of La Guardiense’s collaboration with Riccardo Cotarella in 2007. This initiated a period of detailed study of the territory and its grapes, followed by changes in both vineyard and cellar work intended to express the potential of Sannio more clearly. Cotarella and his team subsequently contributed directly to Janare, with company oenologist Marco Giulioli representing the team inside the cooperative.

Janare emerged from the first viticultural zoning programme carried out in Campania. The work mapped soil families and examined the relationships among grape variety, rootstock, soil and environment. Pedologists, agronomists, technicians and growers combined field observations with the accumulated practical knowledge of those cultivating the vineyards. The resulting site-specific model was designed to guide fertilization, cultivation, pruning, water management and separate harvesting vineyard by vineyard.

2009: the early Janare selection

On 13 October 2009, Janare was presented at the Rome Cavalieri in an event organized by the Associazione Italiana Sommelier. At that stage the range comprised six labels—Senete, Colle di Tilio, Pietralata, Cantone, Lucchero and Cantari—and drew on a particularly restricted selection of 20 ha. Riccardo Cotarella, Marco Giulioli, Domizio Pigna and Concetta Pigna participated in the presentation. The project’s place names referred to areas of Guardia Sanframondi and neighbouring communes, linking each selected grape variety to a particular environment and terroir.

Cantone, based on Piedirosso, was presented as a new and experimental addition in October 2009. Its source locality was described as south-facing, with calcareous-clay soils and naturally low yields. The addition broadened a project already focused particularly on Falanghina and Aglianico and reinforced its interest in locally rooted varieties.

By December 2009, Janare’s defining principles were explicitly articulated: strongly characterized vineyard selections, zoning, a drastic reduction in yields, refinement of cellar techniques and targeted presentation and commercialization. The range was conceived as a quality-focused expression of individual sites rather than as a uniform regional blend.

Development into a broader zoned brand

The project subsequently expanded beyond its original restricted selection. Its present scope covers approximately 500 ha out of La Guardiense’s approximately 1,500 ha, chosen from the territory’s most representative and suitable viticultural contexts. Soil zoning, selection of the most promising sites and dedicated agronomic experimentation remain its structural foundations.

Janare now encompasses several complementary families: Alfabeto, Cru del Sannio, Anima Lavica, Spumanti Cru, Spumanti Q and Altre Gemme. The expanded portfolio retains the original objective of interpreting Sannio through native grapes, site selection and differentiated terroirs.

Janare is rooted in the Valle Telesina around Guardia Sanframondi, in the province of Benevento. The vineyard landscape lies between the Matese massif and Monte Taburno and is characterized by varied soils, slopes and exposures.

The valley forms a complex pedological mosaic. Its principal landscape and soil units are the Calore alluvial plain, the Calore alluvial terraces, the Taburno alluvial fans, intermontane basins and plateaus, plateaus over ignimbrite, hills on the right bank of the Calore, old black hill soils and forest or pasture areas. More specifically, the mosaic includes fertile, deep silty-sandy soils on the alluvial valley floor; river terraces; old black soils on marly hills; and volcanic soils derived from Campanian ignimbrite.

This geomorphological variability affects grape quantity, quality and typicity. The zoning programme therefore studies the interaction of vine, rootstock, soil and environment at the level of individual vineyards. The same variety can respond differently from one vintage to another according to soil, allowing the most promising sites to be selected separately each year.

Falanghina grown on volcanic soils is associated with marked aromatic freshness, penetrating mineral character and vivid aromas. Such soils help the vine manage high summer temperatures, and in seasons without severe drought they can support particularly high quality.

Within the Janare selection, the Cantone locality is specifically described as south-facing and calcareous-clay. Piedirosso grown there is delicate and naturally low-yielding.

Janare is built around a site-specific approach to vineyard management. Detailed mapping of soil families is combined with field surveys by pedologists, agronomists and technicians and with the daily observations of the growers. The objective is to understand how each vine responds to soil and environment and to select the vineyards with the greatest potential in each season.

The zoning model supports vineyard-by-vineyard decisions concerning fertilization, soil cultivation, pruning, water management and separate harvests. Selected sites receive dedicated agronomic techniques rather than uniform treatment across the entire cooperative area. Early descriptions of Janare also identify a drastic reduction in yields as one of the measures used to raise quality.

The approximately 500 ha are drawn from the most representative and suitable contexts in the territory. Experimentation focuses particularly on Falanghina and Aglianico, while the broader range also works with Fiano, Greco, Coda di Volpe, Piedirosso and Moscato.

The member vineyards operate within the Sistema Qualità Nazionale Produzione Integrata. Its voluntary integrated-crop-protection rules impose crop-specific technical and phytosanitary protocols, restrictions on chemical inputs and agronomic practices intended to reduce environmental impact. RINA Agrifood is identified as the certification body.

Janare’s production begins with differentiated vineyard selection rather than a uniform intake from the cooperative’s complete vineyard area. Zoning identifies homogeneous soil and environmental units, supports separate harvests and helps direct grapes toward distinct vinifications according to site and seasonal potential.

The early project combined drastic yield reduction with progressive refinement of cellar techniques. Its original cru selection used different maturation paths—including stainless steel, bottle maturation and wood—according to grape variety and intended expression. No single standardized vinification protocol is applied to the entire Janare range.

The underlying production philosophy integrates scientific soil study, grower experience and precise lot separation so that the characteristics of individual terroirs can remain legible in the finished ranges.