La Guardiense

The roots of the "La Guardiense" cooperative go back to the year 1960, when 33 winegrowers from Guardia Sanframondi joined forces to vinify and market their wines together. Today La Guardiense ranks among the most important wine producers in Italy. The cooperative's 33 founding members have since grown into more than 1,000 winegrowers who farm the vineyards in and around Guardia Sanframondi in Campania. Above all, the autochthonous grape varieties such as Falanghina, Fiano, Greco and Aglianico are the focus of cultivation, as the volcanic-rock soils are especially well suited to these varieties. Almost unusual for a cooperative, La Guardiense is distinguished by very stable and quality-oriented management. There have been only 3 presidents since the founding in 1960. For many years the aim has been to steadily improve the quality of the wines. La Guardiense is now supported in winemaking by one of the arguably best oenologists in Italy, Riccardo Cottarella. Cottarella not only runs a renowned estate of his own but is also a sought-after "Flying Winemaker" who assists a number of top wineries in Italy and abroad.