The world of wine is not a simple, one-dimensional world. It is a world in which generations try to understand each other and at the same time offer their own contribution. This is a heritage which grows slowly and ponderously, learning from mistakes and difficulties, taking the royal road where possible, which is hardly ever the quickest path. This heritage involves accepting events extensively, without submitting to the siren call of immediate results, affecting the day-to-day work whilst respecting the coherence of the greater vision. All this, and many more great, unlimited factors, lead the members of the Mastroberardino family to see themselves as interpreters, who receive a testimony and in turn pass it on. Aware of this, they see their role as being merely as a component of a harmonious process, in which all parts become an indivisible whole, in reverence to the cultural message which this long history embodies and bequeaths......
The various members of the Mastroberardino family, who have taken place at the head of the company have had in common one firm and basic value, which has informed their choices whilst shaping and giving meaning to their history. This value is the one of loyalty towards one's homeland and origins, and towards one's natural and social environment, as a means of safeguarding a cultural identity. The family's coherence regarding this paradigm has been rigorous. This has led them to carry out a role as pioneers in the pure defence and valorization of viticulture and native grapes such as Fiano, Greco and Aglianico, till reaching a new slant: these varieties, which in the last century existed only in a few isolated strongholds, have gained so much recognition that they have been exported and planted in new and different geographical contexts.
Tradition is a value as long as it represents a bond of coherence and reliability. The Mastroberardino family has been involved in the socio-cultural context of wine-making for almost three centuries. The most authoritative reports suggest that someone named Berardino, taking the professional title 'Mastro' - master craftsman - began the lineage in the seventeen hundred. Once he had chosen its headquarter in Atripalda in the heart of the Irpinia wine-making region, the family linked its fate to the cult of wine. Since then, ten generations have run the business.
Recalling one's own tradition does not mean foregoing innovation. Today Mastroberardino is one of the most advanced synthesis of technical competence in the field. Nevertheless, the application of this competence doesn't aim to change the fundamental nature and characteristics of the ancient wines, but to preserve their existence and value, and to harmonize them with the evolution of schemes and ideas which represent a distinctive mark of wine tasting. The ancient cellars then, are an expression of the state of the winemaker's art but, the way Mastroberardino applies to this art respects the principles which have always inspired the family's philosophy.
The complex character of a great wine vests in importance to the whole, to the unique moment that generate it, to the relationship between the different phases of the process which contribute to outline its personality. The vineyard is the first step on this path. It is a place where man's care and dedication contribute to the safeguarding of natural resources, in territories which have confirmed their extraordinary vocation to the quality of wine-making for thousand years. The Mastroberardino family's holdings are spread across several parts of Irpinia, in the areas which have historically proved to be the centre of production of the great wines of the region. In recognition of the role Mastroberardino has played in the protection of the viticultural and oenological heritage of the Roman age, under the patronage of the "Presidenza della Repubblica", the winery has been appointed to reintroduce vine growing in the ancient city of Pompeii.
The idea was to replant the vineyards with the same historic vines which, like two thousand years ago, define the wine-making tradition of the area.
It is visited by people from all over the world and, since the installation of a series of paintings in the vaults of the refining and maturing cellars - masterpieces of artists like Raffaele De Rosa, Maria Micozzi, Doina Botez - has also become a sort of a fine arts gallery. These are places of work and contemplation, of refined and discreet sobriety, which may awaken ancient sensations: time slows, pointless noise seems to disappear. Our treasures, fostered with wisdom and serenity, rest and build their character until the moment when they will be released to the world, bringing with them the heritage of emotions gained during their long preparation. They are custodians of a strong and ancient message which shuns compromise and superficiality: the message of the wine, lifeblood of the earth.