Heroic Wine from an Ancient Island: Cenatiempo's Lefkos

The Italians have a term for what Pasquale Cenatiempo does on the island of Ischia: viticoltura eroica — heroic viticulture. He farms fourteen tiny vineyards perched on steep terraces overlooking the Gulf of Naples. This is Ischia, an ancient, volcanic island where almost nothing can be mechanized, everything is done by hand, and none of it is easy. Pasquale farms biodynamically with almost no interventions (another challenge); none of this work makes much economic sense unless you believe deeply in what the land can produce.

And there's reason to believe: Ischia has been producing wine for nearly three millennia. It was one of the very first Greek colonies in the western Mediterranean and Greek names survive to this day ("Lefkos" is Greek for "white"). The grapes are also part of that deep history: Biancolella and Forastera have adapted to this volcanic habitat over centuries, yielding wines that can’t be reproduced anywhere else.

Of course, none of that history would matter if the wine weren't genuinely great. Lefkos is a single-vineyard blend (mostly Biancolella with Forastera supporting) pure volcanic soils at 350 meters, wine is built around bright fruit from the southern sun, struck match from the soil, and fresh salinity from the ocean breezes. The two grapes play off each other beautifully: Biancolella brings aromatic intensity (white flowers, stone fruit, a signature delicate almond finish) while Forastera is a perfect conduit for that minerality, and gives nervous, racy acidity, and herbal freshness. 

Cenatiempo Ischia Bianco Lefkos 2024 - $44.99
An ocean wine with a vertical, almost alpine energy from the mix of soil, altitude, sun and wind. In fact, Pasquale insists these are mountain wines – and works to preserve all the fine texture, tension and natural goodness with hands-off winemaking (natural yeast fermentation in cement).