Cantina Orsogna Padami Primitivo

The mountainous Abruzzo region is situated halfway up the `boot` of
Italy, neighbouring the Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and the
less well known Molise region to the south east. Here the highly
regarded co-operative wine company Cantina Orsogna was founded in 1972.
The business today comprises 600 partner growers and covers almost 1,000
hectares of vines, of which 80% are organic.

Set in the scenic Majella hills of Abruzzo, just 15 kilometres from
the Adriatic, its vineyards benefit from the significant
day-night temperature swings and superb ventilation in the vineyards
thanks to the fresh breezes that result from both its altitude and its
maritime location. The estate was named ‘Italian Winery of the Year’ at
Vinitaly 2012. The winemaking team is headed by the super-talented
Camillo Zulli. The Elementa wines are certified Biodynamic by Demeter
being produced according to Steiner's biodynamic methods. In addition,
various preparations are used to feed the soil and plants and taking
into account the position of the planets in certain activities in the
vineyard. Also, life in and around the vineyard gets extra attention.
The winery allows wild herbs to grow among the vines that serve as green
champions, whilst also attracting natural enemies of harmful insects.
Nature does her work, and the vineyard is indeed part of nature. 

Orsogna also support the activities of the WWF SOSLupo campaign to
protect native wolves in Abruzzo and Calabria. The estate believes in
sustainable relationships, as well as sustainable farming methods and
choose to use traditional rope tie, as well as cork to seal their
bottles. For this, they employ young people from the local community
friendship farm. In the cellar, wines are either fermented and matured
solely in stainless steel tanks in order to ensure the natural fruit
expression is fully retained or, for the red wines, partly in stainless
steel and partly in large oak 'botte' in order to harmonise the natural
tannins.