“Beauty is an inevitable consequence of rationality”, wrote the architect Pierluigi Nervi. This is not the case in this corner of Cilento where a lovely disorder reigns and where the wild side of nature dominates. Is no exception Locanda San Fantino, a seventeenth-century farmhouse immersed in this lush nature that seems to swallow it up.
Locanda San Fantino in San Giovanni a Piro
The interiors were furnished by Sebastiano Petrilli with a happy harmony between elements of different historical and geographical origins, brought together under the sign of a sophisticated essentiality illuminated by the windows that filter the atmosphere of the green countryside.
After a ride aboard Sebastiano’s dusty jeep among the Pinot Noir vineyards planted under the rocky profile of Bulgheria at the edge of the woods and a glass of Cilento Wild Coast gin the stories begin. After graduating from Bocconi in Milan, Sebastiano moved to London without ever forgetting the promise he made to his father: to take care of these family lands in San Giovanni a Piro, where the forest separates the town from the Locanda San Fantino which is literally embraced by the village.
In the 1990s he left the City and his job as an Investment Banker disgusted by a logic increasingly linked to the god of money that no longer respected either men or nature.
When he moved here the property was semi-abandoned but at the same time it had retained its authenticity, thus ideally offering itself to the agricultural, organic and biodynamic practices with which the land is cultivated. In this countryside managed in a sustainable way, leaving room for plants and wild animals, one of the largest and oldest oaks in the area acts as sentinel for the vineyards.
The property consists of 30 hectares divided into 5 different farms and an ancient palace that stands on the edge of the rocky spur in front of the San Fantino farm which gave its name to the Locanda which hosted us with our Otto in one of its seven rooms. We came here to meet Sebastiano, his son Corrado, his dog Gegè, his cat Coccolina and his wines.
A Pinot Noir called Jacine from the farm of approximately 7 hectares on the slopes of Mount Bulgheria, produced in purity and unique in all of Campania as it presents all the characteristics of a Pinot Noir from Burgundy. On the nose it develops intense aromas of blackcurrant, elderflower and black pepper and then softens with notes of raspberry and rose petals, while hints of redcurrant and orange blossom in the mouth. The latest vintage of this organic and biodynamic wine aged in barriques for 4 months and then in steel, that of 2022, has a dull ruby color and a soft and velvety taste that maintains a certain complexity.
We also really liked the San Fantino Bianco produced from Fiano grapes and a small quantity of Moscato which gives it sweet aromas of citrus fruits but also of freshly mown hay. The grapes, harvested by hand, are macerated on the skins for 2-3 days without cooling according to an ancient practice that is making a comeback. The other two wines are San Fantino Rosato and San Fantino Rosso. The first is based on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Trebbiano and Moscato Rosa; the second is a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sirah grapes with the addition of grapes from some old vines whose origin is unknown, but whose different maturation is respected by vinifying them in small batches by destemming them for three quarters and macerating them on the peels for about 6 days.
All San Fantino wines are natural: the only fertilizers used are company compost based on prunings and manure, while Bordeaux mixture and powdered sulfur are used to control diseases, according to the teachings of brother Saverio, leader of biodynamic winemakers Italians.
Returning to the wild side of the territory, Cilento Wild Coast is the name he wanted to give to his gin flavored with the purple juniper galbules that he harvests in those lands by the sea that in 1984 his mother Fiamma Pintacuda Petrilli donated to the FAI to preserve them from wild subdivision which has unfortunately affected other places in Cilento. Together with juniper berries, the aromatic notes of gin are due to myrtle, sea fennel and the zest of Scario lemons. But each bottle is different because the seasonality of the raw materials gives different aromas and olfactory nuances, even if the resinous hints of the red juniper and the flavor that comes from the sea fennel predominate.
Another product of which Sebastiano is very proud is the aromatic red wine vinegar born from a misadventure. In fact, in 2008 almost 1000 liters of San Fantino wine became acidic. Rather than throw away the product and effort, he decided to transform them into vinegar with the addition of the “mother of vinegar” found by chance in an abandoned bottle in his house in the village. This precious ingredient together with bay leaves, fennel flowers, myrtle berries and wood chips matured in oak barrels have given life to an amber colored vinegar also appreciated by great chefs such as Gennaro Esposito.
In the countryside thick with holm oaks and oaks, where we admired the largest cherry trees we have ever seen and where the farmhouses stand out, one of the most damaging elements is represented by wild boars which, despite the electrified sections, manage to cause a lot of damage to the vineyards. But today we are here to nourish ourselves with beauty and our gaze runs halfway up the coast between the vineyards on one side and the glittering sea on the other. And seen from here, San Giovanni a Piro is spectacular, perched on a rock bastion and overlooked by Mount Bulgheria.
Locanda San Fantino
Via San Fantino, 8 – San Giovanni a Piro (SA)
www.sanfantino.com
Info: +39 0974 983442 – +39 349 7405959 – seba@sanfantino.com
