Wine abbeys of Italy and France recount their centuries-old traditions and farming rituals

Monasteries, abbeys, hermitages and convents: next to religious and cultural knowledge, in the most important wine territories of Italy, there are many who also keep a vineyard. Because, “over the centuries” of centuries, within their mighty walls and in the ancient cloisters, for the friars-vignerons the production of wine has always been a matter of life, spiritual, a symbol of the union between earth and heaven, man and God, of the blood of Christ and the Eucharist, but also daily, according to the rule of ora et labora. What is certain is that in these places of silence and prayer, retraced so many times “on pilgrimage” by WineNews, wine has always been produced “in seclusion”, with the openness to marketing and markets that more recently, has gone hand in hand with tradition and the need for sustenance.
To recall the role that, since the Middle Ages, abbeys have played not only in the production of wine, but also in the preservation of grape varieties that would otherwise have been lost, “Vini d’Abbazia” (Wines of the Abbey) returns in the extraordinary setting of Fossanova Abbey in Priverno (June 2-4), “council” that brings together more than 30 wineries from the abbeys of Italy and for the first time also from France, linked to the Association Les Vins D’Abbayes, which holds a similar event in Paris, to tell of their centuries-old winemaking traditions and peasant rituals that have come down to the present day in the productions of farmland cared for by religious and shrewd winemakers.
Fossanova Abbey is the oldest and most unaltered example of Cistercian-Gothic art in Italy. The Cistercian monks who founded it in 1208 came from the monastery of Citeaux in France, which was instrumental in the production of the emblazoned wines of Burgundy. The monumental complex is extraordinary: surrounded by a village that hardly needs any introduction, either for the tourist who goes there and is immediately surrounded by the rare beauty of the narrow streets, cobblestones, and small craft stores that give a special life to the locals, or for the latter who, every day, enjoy the beautiful peace of a timeless place. At “Vini d’Abbazia” (organized by the cultural association Passione di Vino, the Municipality of Priverno, Taste Roots and the Wine Road of Latina, with the collaboration of Slow Food and the patronage of the Lazio Region, Arsial, the Chamber of Commerce of Frosinone Latina, Informare and Confagricoltura) the public will not only be able to taste numerous productions, but also meet wine makers and friars “masters of the vineyard” at the service of wine monasteries. Wine-tasting stands will be distributed around the striking Abbey Cloister, while masterclasses dedicated to the productions of the different abbeys will be held in the Refectory. At the close of the event, on June 4, the large hall of the Infermeria del Borgo di Fossanova will host a meeting with Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food, dedicated to the contribution of the abbeys to the preservation of wine, introduced by “Linea Verde Life” host Marcello Masi. Masterclasses on June 2 will include “The Native Wines of the Province of Latina”, discovering Nero Buono, Bellone, Malvasia Puntinata and Moscato Terracina, and Novacella Abbey, which has been producing wine since the 12th century in Alto Adige, with a tasting led by Head of Sales & Marketing Werner Waldboth, while Marco Caprai, at the helm of the Arnaldo Caprai winery, and Antonio Capaldo, president of Feudi di San Gregorio, together for the first time, will talk about their wines with “Corriere della Sera” deputy editor Luciano Ferraro. On June 3, space will be given to the “Strada del Cesanese” and the “wine of the Popes” with its most important producers, to Cantina Valle Isarco with managing director Armin Gratl who will lead the tasting of wines produced in Sabiona Abbey, the spiritual cradle of the Tyrol, and to “French Abbey Wines” with the Les Vins D’Abbayes Association. June 4 will range from the Atina Cabernet Dop Consortium, which will tell the story of the rebirth of an area in the heart of Ciociaria where Cabernet Sauvignon has found its ideal habitat since the late 19th century, to wines from the Trappist Monastery of Vitorchiano told by Giampiero Bea, among the most influential interpreters of wine according to nature.
There will also be an opportunity to taste wines produced by the wineries of the Strada del Vino di Latina, the Strada del Cesanese del Piglio and the Consorzio dei Vini di Atina. Also inside the Borgo, a special food section curated by Slow Food with Presidia producers will be set up for the occasion.

The wine abbeys of Italy and France and wineries in “council”

Abbazia di Novacella
Cantina Convento Muri-Gries
Monastero di Sabiona - Cantina Valle Isarco
Abbazia di Praglia
Abbazia di Busco - Società Agricola Liasora
Abbazia di Rosazzo - Cantina Livio Felluga
Monastero di Santo Stefano Belbo
Monastero di Bose
Convento della Santissima Annunciata
Monastero Monache Trappiste di Vitorchiano
Abbazia di Valvisciolo
Abbazia di Casamari
Monastero di Badia a Passignano - Antinori
Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore
Monastero di Camaldoli
Monastero dei Frati Bianchi di Fivizzano
Cantina Arnaldo Caprai
Abbazia di Crapolla
Abbazia del Goleto - Feudi di San Gregorio
Vallepicciola - Pievasciata
Cellier aux Moines
Champagne Monial
Abbaye de Morgeot, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru
Château de la Tour, Clos de Vougeot
Château de Clos de Vougeot
Domaine de l’Abbaye du Petit Quincy, Domaine Gruhier, Bourgogne Epineuil, Chablis
Château des Bachelards, Fleurie
Abbaye de Fontfroide, Corbières
Abbaye de Valmagne, Coteaux du Languedoc
Abbaye des Monges, La Clape
Abbaye de Joncels, Domaine de Bon Augure, Pays d’Hérault
Château des Antonins, Couvent de Pondaurat
Chartreuse de Valbonne, Côtes du Rhône
Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux, Côtes du Ventoux
Domaine des Palais, Côte Roannaise
Abbaye Notre-Dame de Fidélité de Jouques, Coteaux d’Aix
Abbaye de Lérins, Igp Méditerranée
Abbaye de Vallières
Vignoble de Villers-la-Vigne