Molise, small and perfectly formed

Molise is one of the smallest regions in all of Italy, covered by mountain ranges and hills, it is also one of the most beautiful landscapes – especially in winter.

Molise used to be part of Abruzzo but in 1963 the region seceded and became master of its own destiny.  In the year 2000 I was invited to visit the region which has only a few wineries. Our host for the three day stay was Alessio De  Majo Norante, who with his father Luigi, opened their house to us.

Their estate is probably the largest and more commercially viable than most of the others. It covers 180 hectares and has 65 under vine. At the time of my trip there were only 5 producers and 3 cantine sociale in the region. Today there are several more and the region is producing quite good wine although it hasn’t quite reached great wine status.

Alessio, who drove an eight seater car/van, picked us up in Rome and drove back to Molise, a trip of about two hours along the freeway.  We arrived at the farm, freshened up and then went straight out to have lunch. We drove about ten minutes and arrived at a tiny restaurant called Ristorante Ribo, a fish restaurant up a hill and a fair way from the sea.

We were met by the three-in-one owner and chef and on that day, the waiter. He showed us a magnificent collection of salamis he had just made and were hanging to dry in the back of the restaurant. We then say down quite impressed and looking forward to a great lunch. Here was his opportunity to show what he could do, four willing food and wine writers ready to compliment each dish.........

As a starter, he brought out a plate of what he called Italian Sushi. It was raw fish but not what you would expect, small raw prawns in their shell and raw squid. It was awful, especially as he sat and showed us how to eat it – shells and all! We then a piece of fried fish, crispy and dark golden brown, cooked so much it was like a piece of wood. We managed to eat some of them while we discussed how he managed to stay in business. According to our host, he did a roaring trade in meat dishes!

The next day we were taken to yet another fish restaurant that was owned by another colourful character, this time a flashback to the 60’s. The owner, who was also the maitre’d, dressed in a black velvet suit and had long ringlets like one of the ‘new romantics’. The fish at this restaurant was a revelation, it was out of this world. After bringing out a great big bass to show us what we were going to eat, we started eating. The fish broth we had as a starter was terrific, the pasta was even better and the main meal was so tasty – I didn’t know fish could be that good! We asked our host why he had taken us to see the first restaurant when he knew it was second rate and he said ‘so we could really appreciate the second’.

When we arrived back at the winery, we were just in time to see them cleaning up after they had made mozzarella. Thick beautiful braids called trecce were sitting on the table, one of them cut for us. Even though we had had a big lunch, we enjoyed the mozzarella, fresh and tasty, perfect with tomatoes.

Millie

The next day we had a proper tasting of the De Majo wines and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with our host who couldn’t do enough for us. We walked through the vineyards and played with his dogs, one of which took a liking to me – the only problem was I am only 150cms tall and Mollie the dog was a great big mountain dog and whenever she stood up to reach my shoulders she was taller than I was, and a great deal heavier!

The town of Lupara

We ended the visit the next morning and Alessio drove us to Guardiagrelle in Abruzzo where we were to meet another couple of journalists and continue on with our trip. It was sad seeing him go as we had spent three lovely days with him.

Next time we continue with our trip to Abruzzo where we meet some winemakers with strange ideas