What they say about us

These don’t strike me as the type who’d buy face cream from a TV huckster — speaking of Casale Certosa’s move toward the biodynamic method and someone’s scepticism about it.

Between Casale Certosa and Vincenzo Mancino, I’m not sure which of the two is driving the wrong way down the motorway — probably both, a little.

Casale Certosa, those reckless madmen who grow Malvasia Puntinata, vinify it and even put it in a bottle — to show that even things that sometimes seem complicated become less so when faced with simplicity.

Their wines aren’t among the best in the world, nor in Italy, but they’re surely among the finest (and slightly sad) stories of refusing to monetise true value, in a sector full of bad habits now hard to root out.

Soil of volcanic, pozzolanic origin, free-draining, rich in minerals such as potassium, magnesium and calcium. Slightly acidic pH, an excellent balance of sand, silt and clay. Sufficient organic matter.

Sharp, pointed and punctual, Antonio Cosmi is one of those people who could never lie to please anyone; we who love sincerity find him a thoroughly decent person, as well as funny and enterprising.

You can’t talk about Casale Certosa without mentioning the painstaking care of the splendid vineyards and the small but well-equipped cellar. Not to mention the beauty of the place, improbably at the gates of Rome.

At dinner my wife opens a bottle of Casale Certosa Grechetto: «finally, home».