Viticoltori de Conciliis

A family relationship with the land

The estate developed from a large De Conciliis family whose children, uncles and cousins grew up together and spent their summers in the surrounding countryside. Wine was already part of family life: grapes from the family vineyards were made into a strong, tannic red kept in large demijohns in Aunt Luna’s cellar and served during large family celebrations.

The siblings’ father maintained a particularly close relationship with the land, olive trees and oaks. He spent long periods working on the tractor or gathering asparagus and wild herbs, and reinvested the proceeds of his work in the family enterprise. The undertaking began as a livestock farm, with vines, olive trees and wheat as associated crops. Its grapes were initially delivered to the local cooperative winery.

The move into winemaking

When the children reached adulthood, their attention shifted toward making wine themselves. In the mid-1990s they conducted their first vinification trials, adapting a milk cooler to control fermentation temperatures. Grapes were harvested during the day and processed in the evening. The results convinced the family that the combination of its land, sunlight and proximity to the sea could support a more ambitious standard of wine.

Technical knowledge and the assistance of an unnamed enologist who was deeply attached to Cilento helped establish the new quality-focused direction. During the same formative period, the family hosted harvest workers with cellar experience from Australia, California, Scotland and Argentina. These exchanges broadened the team’s technical outlook and introduced an international perspective.

Establishing the named vineyards

Fiano blocks at Destre and Perella were planted in 1998. An Aglianico block at Destre followed in 1999, and Aglianico at Cannetiello in 2000. Part of Destre was re-grafted to Aglianicone in 2011, creating the source for the Misterioso project.

Organic farming and the present estate

The vineyards achieved certified-organic status in 2015. They now cover 15 ha, much of it on pronounced slopes, and are planted to Aglianico, Fiano and Aglianicone. The cellar combines temperature-controlled stainless-steel vessels, large wooden casks and terracotta amphorae, supported by modern equipment and renewable energy.

The agricultural activity also includes 20 ha of certified-organic olive groves, combining centuries-old trees with newer plantings. The family continues to frame its work as a long-term commitment to Cilento, its landscape and its agricultural future.

The estate’s 15 ha of vines have been under certified-organic management since 2015. Organic documentation carries the Italian control code IT-BIO-007. The same certified-organic approach extends to the family’s olive groves.

Most vines grow on steep terrain. Named blocks are trained to bilateral Guyot at around 5,500 vines/ha, and grapes from the documented estate sites are picked manually. Reported vineyard yields range from 40 to 60 q/ha according to variety and selection: 40 q/ha for the lower-yielding Aglianico selections, 50 q/ha for Fiano and 60 q/ha for Aglianico or Aglianicone in other estate bottlings.

The agricultural landscape combines vines with centuries-old and recently planted olive trees, oaks, wheat-growing history, wild herbs and other elements of Cilento’s mixed farming environment. Protection of the landscape, nature and biodiversity forms part of the family’s stated approach to cultivation.

The cellar is designed around temperature control and a varied set of maturation vessels. Its equipment includes stainless-steel tanks, large wooden casks—among them 30 hl vessels—smaller tonneaux and barriques, and terracotta amphorae. Modern cellar systems operate with renewable energy.

Harvesting is manual in the documented estate parcels. Depending on the intended expression, white grapes may undergo gentle whole-bunch pressing followed by static settling of the must, or destemming and short skin contact. Some lots ferment in temperature-controlled stainless steel; documented temperatures include 14°C for the traditional-method sparkling base. Fine-lees ageing with periodic bâtonnage is used for selected white wines.

The cellar also works with extended skin contact and indigenous-fermentation techniques. One Fiano treatment begins with eight days on the skins using natural yeasts before pressing into temperature-controlled steel. Aglianico vinifications may begin with a pied de cuve and continue through maceration in steel. Terracotta is used both for fermentation and maturation: destemmed and crushed Fiano can complete alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in amphora, followed by roughly six months of maceration, six months in steel and six months in bottle. Aglianicone lots also employ amphora for fermentation or extended maturation.

Ageing options range from stainless steel and fine lees to tonneaux, barriques and large 30 hl casks, followed by bottle maturation. The sparkling programme encompasses both bottle-fermented traditional method, with approximately 24 months on the lees before disgorgement, and the Martinotti method; the latter’s second fermentation is carried out at Dogliotti 1870 snc.