Di Majo Norante Moscato del Molise Apianae 2011
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Founded in 1968, the Di Majo estate cultivates more than 200 acres under vine. In order to ensure consistent, high-quality production for all the estate’s wines, Alessio Di Majo hired renowned oenologist Riccardo Cotarella as a consultant. In addition to producing quality wine at an outstanding value, the Di Majo family is dedicated to practicing environmentally sound agriculture. The Di Majo Norante winery sits on the estate of the Marquis Norante of Santa Cristina in the region of Molise, along the Adriatic Sea between Puglia and Abruzzo. The cultivation of vines in this area dates back to 500 BC, when the region was inhabited by two pre-Roman civilizations, the Sanniti and the Osci. The estate has been dedicated to growing vines since the 1800s. In the 1960s a modern cantina was constructed and vines were replanted in the Ramitello area. Optimal exposure, constant breezes during the summer, excellent soil composition and a slope toward the Sciabolone and Madonna Grande valleys combine to create a particularly favorable environment for the production of wine here.
While Muscat comes in a wide range of styles from dry to sweet, still to sparkling and even fortified, it's safe to say it is always alluringly aromatic and delightful. The two most important versions are the noble, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, making wines of considerable quality and Muscat of Alexandria, thought to be a progeny of the former. Somm Secret—Pliny the Elder wrote in the 13th century of a sweet, perfumed grape variety so attractive to bees that he referred to it as uva apiana, or “grape of the bees.” Most likely, he was describing Muscat.
This mountainous region south of Abruzzo comes in second after Valle d’Aosta as Italy’s smallest and least populated region. Wine production is largely reserved for cooperatives with the main varieties as Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. Plantings of grape varieties from its neighboring region of Campania—whites Fiano and Greco di tufo and the red, Aglianico—have increased recently.