Campania’s historic Montevetrano winery has been acquired by Tenuta Ulisse. Silvia Imparato remains as guarantor of the iconic winery’s production quality.
Abruzzo-based Tenuta Ulisse winery has acquired Montevetrano, one of Campania’s iconic wineries. Silvia Imparato, who created the winery in the 1990s, remains at the winery as guarantor of production quality and Riccardo Cotarella as wine consultant.
Montevetrano: when it all began
by Daniele Cernilli
In the first half of the 1990s I met Silvia Imparato as a photographer and great wine enthusiast at the Roffi Isabelli wine shop on Via della Croce in Rome. The owner was Chiara Viscogliosi, and that place was frequented by a number of people who would later become very famous in the wine world. Eduard Steiberg, who later wrote the book on Gaja’s Sorì San Lorenzo was the guru of the group of patrons of that winebar along with Luca Maroni, Renzo Cotarella and the notary Giancarlo Perrotta who later became the head of the Gambero Rosso Restaurant Guide and Leonard Barkan who at the time was a professor of English literature and art history at North West University in Ann Arbor. They were a group of experienced professionals and enthusiasts.
Silvia Imparato and the birth of her wine
Silvia also met there Riccardo Cotarella, Renzo’s brother. She told him she had a property just above Salerno, in San Cipriano Picentino where there were also a few acres of vineyards. She asked him to give her a hand in making a wine. Cabernet Sauvignon, some Merlot and a few rows of Aglianico were planted.
So the adventure began. The first vintage was 1991. Then the ’92 and the ’93 that became very famous. Mainly because Robert Parker wrote about it, having been given a few bottles in an almost “carbonated” way by Riccardo himself, who had brought them to America for him to taste.
I was working for Gambero Rosso at the time, I knew Silvia and the Roffi Sabelli wine shop of course, and she was the one who brought me some bottles to let me taste them just as Cotarella had brought them to Parker.
I thought a little cynically, “here’s another one who’s into wine and doesn’t know what she’s doing.” I left the bottles behind the desk and forgot about them. Then Marco Sabellico asked me, “But what are those bottles that have been back there for a few months?” I replied, “Tell me about it Marco, she’s another one of those crazy people who wants to make wine and since I know her and she’s a very good photographer I don’t want to disrespect her by telling her that about that wine there it’s better not to talk,” and Marco “But come on Daniele, at least let’s taste it so we can realize.”
The success of Montevetrano
…And Marco was right! We tasted those wines, ’91, ’92 and ’93 and they were truly extraordinary. A few days later The Wine Advocate came out with space scores and I called Silvia Imparato to apologize.
” Silvia, I’m sorry, but I really underestimated you. your wines are very good and I stupidly forgot them behind the desk. If it wasn’t for Sabellico they would have been there for who knows how long “. Silvia became very angry, and it took quite some time to try to restore the old friendly relations. However, since then, that is, since Montevetrano of 1993, I think I have never failed to reward one of her wines.
The latest vintages are extraordinary, and those at Tenuta Ulisse who took over the winery have really done a great deal.
