The Simone Giacomo Winery is located in Castelvenere (BN) in the Sannio area of Campania region, South Italy. It sits amongst the rolling landscape at the foot of the Taburno and Matese mountains, among vineyards and olive groves amid small streams and rocky ridges of the famous local volcanic “tufo”. The tradition of viticulture in the area has been in evidence since the ancient era of the Samnites and commercial wine production dates back to the seventeenth century. The first “grottole” appeared along the defensive moat of the seventeenth-century village. These were distinctive underground cellars dug into the “tufo” and equipped with an “oculus” above to allow light and air into the chamber and enable pressed grapes to be dropped into the area below. The building style of the “grottole” and the demands of our local terrain, have defined the Simone Giacomo Winery project as a formal synthesis between traditional local construction and production, technological innovation and environmental sustainability.

Our underground design solution allowed us to create a symbiosis between architecture and the terrain, returning the cellar to its historical and natural landscape. The only visual architectural element that emerges is the large glazed rift in the “tufo” wall that forms the entrance portal as it opens out to the valley. The company covers about 11 hectares, including 8 planted with vineyards and 2 with olive groves. The main vines produced are Camaiola, Falanghina del Sannio, Aglianico, Sangiovese, Grieco, Cerreto, Agostinella, other native vines that the Simone family intends to recover, bringing all the production in conversion to the organic farming regime since 2016.

Vinification by gravity is the result of the cascade production processes through the winery.