Giuseppe Fortunato was one small step from completing his engineering studies when he instead chose the life of a farmer (much to his father’s chagrin!). This choice was solidified when he met his wife, Sandra, who was already a beekeeper and had many relatives with vineyards that they were happy to rent the young couple.

The estate is located in the heart of the Campi Flegrei, in the bustling town of Puzzouli. Campi Flegrei was formed 50 million years ago by the explosion of a volcano. It is the second oldest volcano to Yellowstone. What is different about Campi Flegrei is that it is not one volcano like Vesuvius, but rather a large volcanic area of craters and thermal springs. The Romans believed this area to be the mythological home of the Roman god of fire, Vulcan. When I was there in winter 2025, I experienced an earthquake, and this is a very common occurrence for them. They are constantly managing various levels of tremors.

Giuseppe started the estate in 2005 on his father’s land (that his father bought in 1980 with ungrafted, or piedi franco, old vines). The sandy, fertile volcanic soil never allowed phylloxera to flourish there. Those two hectares, plus another 3 hectares that they rent from Sandra’s uncle and farm themselves, make up the property. They produce only the indigenous varieties of Falanghina and Piedirosso. They have twice as many Piedirosso vines as Falanghina vines, but they can produce twice as much Falanghina. Falanghina is a rigorous grape, whereas Piedirosso is very hard to cultivate. Giuseppe says that they are tasked with making a modern wine out of ancient varietals.

The bees have always been an integral part of the winery, and help pollinate the vines and the many lemon, cherry and orange trees that surround the vines. They also make and sell their own very delicious honey at Sandra’s natural foods store in town.

Falanghina
The Falanghina produced from two parcels: Coste di Cuma (planted 1975) and Monte Sant'Angelo (planted in 2010). The vines are ungrafted and trained Guyot.  Harvested is done by hand, usually in the beginning of October. The grapes are then destemmed and allowed to macerate on the skins for a few hours (or up to 3 days in cooler vintages)

In the cellar, the grapes were destemmed and allowed to macerate on the skins for a few hours (in cooler vintages, maceration could last up to 3 days) after which they are pressed and fermented in stainless steel.  Malolactic is only partially completed.  The wine remains in tank for 10 months, 8 of which are on the lees, with some batonnage.  The wine is lightly filtered and sulfured, and bottle aged for up to three years before release.

Piedirosso
The Piedirosso is comprised of 95% Piedirosso and 5% co-planted ancient varietals (Ricciulella, Marsigliese, Colagiovanna) from the same two sites as the Falanghina.  The vines are ungrafted and and trained in the pergola in the sylvoz tradition. Named after Italian winemaker Carlo Sylvoz from the Veneto, it is a variant of the reverse training system. The shoots are trained from top to bottom instead of from bottom to top. Two long shoots with around ten eyes are and pulled downwards in a vertical and attached to a wire. Harvest is usually in mid- to late-October.  In the cellar, the grapes are destemmed and fermented in stainless steel.  Depending on the vintage, maceration lasts as long as 30-45 days, which practically unheard of for Piedirosso.  Aging on the lees is short, around 3-4 months, but after that the wine sees another 20-24 months in stainless steel.  There is no fining or filtering.  The wine is released three to four years after harvest.

Readers would do well to commit Contrada Salandra’s name to memory as this estate makes the best Falanghina wine in Italy, and arguably the best wine from Piedirosso as well. The estate of Giuseppe Fortunato, originally an engineer, and his wife Sandra is located in the Campi Flegrei DOC just north of Naples, where they started out by raising bees and making honey, beeswax and related products……forget all those ridiculous and atypical Falanghina wines that are redolent of pineapple, banana and other tropical fruits. That's not what the grape is about. Contrada Salandra’s version is delicately herbal, brightly mineral and very fresh, with a steely quality that elevates it to the level of a grand vin.” —Ian d’Agata, Vinous, September 2015