Attention: wine is not made with an instruction manual

I've always thought that, despite having great regard for Crocean (and Hegelian) idealism, precise and technical knowledge of production means was essential for the success of a human product. Hence, to create poetry or a salami, technical knowledge (of language or charcuterie) is primarily needed before talent or innate inspiration (art as "pure intuition") within the "soul of the artist."

Taming while respecting nature and instincts

Explaining the German philosopher, Giuliano Antonello writes on his blog that for Hegel: “The great artist is the one who feels the material in all its strength and autonomy; it is he who, while overcoming the material’s resistance, does so by respecting its nature, somewhat like a tamer commanding an animal while fully respecting its nature and instincts.”

These concepts whirl in our minds after tasting Luigi Tecce’s Aglianico from Paternopoli and even more after chatting with him. Actually, he chatted with us, answering how a farmer’s son like him could carve out a path to making such an elegant and extravagant wine. His lengthy, almost poetic monologue ended with a video from his 50th birthday three years ago, featuring Vinicio Capossela with a top-tier musical band.

"More novels and fewer winemaking manuals"

“Reading, that’s how I did it. But not reading winemaking manuals: reading poetry and novels, philosophy and history. And, of course, drawing inspiration from the last winemaker in my family: my grandfather. I was born in 1971. He died before I was an adult...” That's how he tells it, gaunt and lanky like a modern Don Quixote. But also like a teenager who survived his adolescence.

Luigi Tecce begins to rant about the “naturals.” He, a pioneer of the natural wine movement, left the Taurasi consortium because he was tired of his wines always being judged and rejected by people who didn't understand, tracing a story similar to that of many other "naturals." But wine, he explains, is the first and most unnatural of human creations. And, he adds, it is the first true work of the spirit. The rest was already within him.