Cantine Olivella

The Cantine Olivella winery was founded in Sant'Anastasia, meaning "at the foot of the mountain," in the heart of the Vesuvius National Park. This protected area provides the ideal habitat for growing grapes, an ancient tradition that the winery has revived and enhanced with the aim of preserving the unique characteristics and history of this grape. Indeed, at the foot of Mount Somma, near the spring known as "dell'Olivella," from which the winery takes its name, a fragment of a wine jar was discovered in 1974, evidence of the wealth of an area that, since ancient times, has produced some of the finest wines of ancient Rome, traded with Pompeii. At the mouth, the jar bears the abbreviated inscription "Sextus Catius Festus," coupled with a seal depicting a stylized leaf resembling a small heart. Significantly, the seal has become the logo of "Cantine Olivella," morphing into a chalice.

Today, we are the fourth generation of winemakers, fortunate to cultivate our vineyards on sandy volcanic soil, ideal for growing ungrafted vines and using the propagation technique by layering, traditionally known as "pass annanz."

The company currently has 18 hectares of vineyards divided across three different municipalities: Sant'Anastasia, Pollena Trocchia, and Somma Vesuviana, located between 300 and 650 meters above sea level.

The grapes grown are Catalanesca, Caprettone, and Piedirosso.

At Cantine Olivella, we practice an agriculture that is mindful of tradition but open to innovation, remaining faithful to traditional, manual production methods. This is why our goal is to create a good story out of good wine.

The unmistakable distinctiveness of our wines lies in the exceptional nature of our volcanic soil, which varies depending on the stratification created by various eruptions. Our soils are composed of black sand and lapilli deposited over the centuries. Each eruption deposited various minerals: potassium, iron, phosphorus, and silica. The lava residues, ash, and lapilli of varying sizes ensure high permeability, which is extremely favorable for grape production. This creates an unfavorable environment for pests, particularly phylloxera, allowing us to grow ungrafted vines.