Tenute Capaldo (Feudi di San Gregorio) acquires Galardi, Campania’s iconic winery

The acquisitions, mergers and transfers of ownership in the world of Italian wine continue, at a rapid pace: Tenute Capaldo, an independent family group owned and managed by the Capaldo family and led by Antonio Capaldo, which includes Feudi di San Gregorio, one of the most important southern Italian wine entities in Campania, as well as Basilisco, an iconic winery in Vulture, and Campo alle Comete, in Bolgheri, is growing again with the acquisition of an iconic winery in the South of Italy, namely Galardi, producer of the iconic Terra di Lavoro wine.
Founded in 1991, Galardi covers 10 hectares of vineyards that extend, at 500 meters above sea level, on the western slope of the Roccamonfina volcano toward the Gulf of Gaeta, nestled among chestnut groves, olive groves and fruit trees. Here, with the advice of oenologist Riccardo Cotarella, Terra di Lavoro was born in 1994, which quickly became an iconic Italian wine, nationally and internationally recognized and a symbol of the growth of Campanian wines in the world. Luigi Veronelli has repeatedly ranked it as the best Italian wine ever, while the first major success overseas dates back to the 2001 vintage when the influential American critic Robert Parker awarded it 99 points. Galardi has always focused its attention on the search for the highest quality so much so that it has produced a single label for more than 25 years. In 2017 it decided to devote part of its production to a second wine, Terra di Rosso, guaranteeing the iconic Terra di Lavoro an even more meticulous selection of the best grapes.
Management of the winery will remain with the founding family, with Allegra Selvaggi, already committed to the winery, taking over as its director. At her side will remain Riccardo Cotarella to ensure full continuity for the winery and the recognizable style of its wines. “The philosophy of our Galardi winery is all summed up in our label”, says Allegra Selvaggi, “a name of values and a story. Terra di Lavoro. Perhaps we live it every now and then as a duty, to restore dignity to this land that carries with it a great and magnificent history. A mission that today, together with Antonio Capaldo, I pick up from my father and intend to carry on, thanks to the obvious opportunities that will be generated within a Group, with which - although of different sizes - I have found full harmony in terms of human values and business philosophy”.
Antonio Capaldo, president of Tenute Capaldo, comments, “Terra di Lavoro has always been an inspiration to me, and to be able to contribute to its custody and future development is cause for great excitement. I deeply respect Galardi's unique vision, his pursuit of excellence and his perseverance in producing refined and authentic wines. With Allegra Selvaggi, we intend to guard this extraordinary heritage and, looking ahead, to strengthen the work done, putting our passion for excellence and our experience in international markets at the service of these unique wines in order to position them where they deserve to be”.
An important new step, then, for Tenute Capaldo, whose story began in Irpinia in 1986, the year Feudi di San Gregorio, the Group’s most important winery, was founded. Feudi di San Gregorio has been enhancing the indigenous grape varieties of the Campania tradition such as Greco, Fiano and Aglianico for thirty years, working on 300 hectares of vineyards divided into more than 800 parcels. The first winery in southern Italy, with more than 30 million in sales and exports covering more than 50 countries around the world, Feudi over the years has become the heart of a larger group of wineries (including Campo alle Comete in Bolgheri; Basilisco, an organic winery in Vulture; and Dubl, the line of classic method sparkling wines from indigenous Campanian varieties) united by the same values-producing wines of excellent quality while respecting the terroir they belong to-and the family brand Tenute Capaldo. From May 2021, moreover, Feudi di San Gregorio became a benefit company, including in its bylaws its commitment to protect and enhance the beauty of the environmental, social and cultural heritage of the Irpinian territory and its community. It became Equalitas certified in August 2021 and, as of July 2022, the entire Group is B Corp.