The lively and dynamic wine sector in the benevento area: why drink Sannio
There is excitement at “Vigneto Sannio”. Excitement triggered by the ongoing revolution driven by each of the eight thousand winemakers who, with tenacity and passion, are intent on cultivating the memory, giving added value to their business through the revival and promotion of traditions. Eight thousand winemakers aware that this is the first step in really taking care of the territory in which they operate. Eight thousand “sentinels of the territory”, aware that a good wine is not created simply from technique but is the result of the memory inscribed in things.
What is taking place is a real revolution of awareness, enflamed thanks also to the research of passionate scholars, which is triggering an exciting attachment to their history in the protagonists of Samnite viticulture, made up of industriousness, attention to quality and – above all – love of their land. Eight thousand revolutionaries, aware that the history of a glorious and valiant people that has inhabited this strip of territory for millennia is written in every branch of the vines they grow, as well as in the production and transformation
processes that they inherited from those who came before them. Eight thousand revolutionaries aware that wine is a cultural heritage, which speaks of the culture of those who have produced it, of their ethical and aesthetic values, of the soul of the place, of the “genius loci”.
It is a revolution that every traveler who arrives in Sannio experiences from the first moment. A desire for redemption that can be seen in admiring the profiles that the vines sketch on the Taburno uplands, the hills of the Titerno Valley and the valley floor with the waters of the Calore River passing through it. And that can be clearly read on the faces of all the ‘Vigneto Sannio’ protagonists; faces drawn by physical fatigue and that ingenuity inherited from the past, and which constitutes the most important weapon in facing future challenges, including that triggered by increasingly bizarre climatic variations.
This excitement is also a lifeblood for the Sannio Wine Consortium, because it is on this fertile ground that it will have to plan the future, putting actions in place that can further stimulate the vitality and desire for redemption that reigns in the entire sector. The Consortium has to stimulate the creation of an effective narrative that’s able to appeal to not only the imagination of consumers and visitors, but which also acts as an incentive. It is a question of writing an effective narrative, all together, to preserve and promote Sannio wines, the product of historic vineyards and a unique territory, repository of environmental, cultural, gastronomic and landscape heritage, skills, knowledge and traditions.
To preserve and promote, because wine is culture when it is produced, but it is also culture when it is consumed. The invitation to drink Sannio does not simply mean promoting the excellence of its wines, because the choice of a wine is never just the result of practical or nutritional criteria, because a wine is also chosen for the whole universe of uses, customs and symbols that it preserves. The invitation to drink Sannio means knowing how to describe the essence and emotions imbued in a magical territory, the result of the modifications made by the mastery of the Samnites in their centuries-old transformation of grape juice into wine. Only by working in this direction will it be possible to give the proper reputation to the Sannite wines and territory, increasing their appeal among consumers and travelers.
This is an essential operation which can no longer be put off, aimed at protecting the value of a sector that represents the most important economic item in Sannio. And above all, to guarantee the eight thousand sentinels of the ‘Vigneto Sannio’ an income that is fair in economic terms and sustainable in social and cultural terms.
