The first wine of the island of Procida is born, an example of heroic viticulture

It is a wine result from the dream of a Procida winemaker, Biagio Lubrano Lavadera, belonging to a long generation of island farmers, who not only wanted to grow grapes, but also to produce and bottle his wine. But the only way has always been to contact a winery on the mainland, given the rules in force. The turning point came thanks to the oenologist Andrea D’Ambra, patron of Casa D’Ambra in Ischia and president of Coldiretti Napoli, who accompanied the Lubrano Lavandera company to make the first Doc wine of the island, adding a new conquest in the year of “Procida Capital of Culture”.
The wine, born with the collaboration of Michele Farro, owner of the Bacoli winery, and the agronomist Francesco Mattera, is called “Starza”, as the place where it is produced, one of the places where the vine is present from times of the Saracen raids. The blend is 90% Falanghina Campi Flegrei and 10% Levante grapes, a native vine, the island’s biodiversity heritage. A product of great softness, thanks to the minerality of the volcanic soil and exposure to the sea breeze. The Farro winery has vinified the grapes from the Francesco Lubrano Lavandera company, giving life to the first Procida wine in compliance with the Doc Campi Flegrei legislation.
“The ultimate goal – says Lubrano Lavandera – is to carry out all the production phases on the island and expand the area under vines recovering underutilized land. A challenge of great environmental value, as well as agricultural on an island od only four square kilometers. Today we are planting native vines, aiming for further enhancement”. The bottle was presented in these days, but it is the culmination of project born a year ago on the occasion of the meeting “Procida Capital of Heroic Agriculture”.