WINE AND ARCHAEOLOGY: THE ARRIGHI COMPANY AMONG THE PROTAGONISTS OF ARCHEOVINUM: at tourismA the first edition of the conference dedicated to the relationship between archaeological heritage and wine production
In Florence – Saturday, February 28 (9 a.m. to 1 p.m., free admission), as part of tourismA – Archaeology and Cultural Tourism Exhibition, the first edition of ArcheoVinum will be held, a conference promoted by the University of Bari and dedicated to the relationship between archaeological heritage and wine production in Italy.
One of the most eloquent examples of this alliance between land, memory, and wine is the Azienda Agricola Arrighi, on the island of Elba, which will be featured at ArcheoVinum as a living testimony to a relationship with archaeology that is not ornamental, but productive and cultural in substance.
For Arrighi, the choice to vinify in amphorae is not a stylistic quirk or a mere concession to natural wine.
It is, first and foremost, an act of historical fidelity.
Excavations of the Roman villa of San Giovanni, in the harbor of Portoferraio, conducted by professors Franco Cambi and Laura Pagliantini of the University of Siena, have brought to light a series of wine amphorae and, in particular, the so-called dolia defossa: large underground vats, each capable of holding over a thousand liters. The five dolia found could hold a total of about 6,000 liters of wine—unequivocal evidence of a long-standing island tradition of winemaking.
The conference aims to explore a growing phenomenon in Italy: the convergence between archaeological heritage and quality wine production. This is an area in which tangible assets—sites, villas, mosaics, ancient production facilities—and intangible assets—knowledge, winemaking practices, territorial identities—intersect, generating models of cultural and economic enhancement of both scientific and managerial interest.
The terracotta amphora, a natural material par excellence, allows the wine to evolve while preserving the identity of the grape and faithfully reflecting the characteristics of the terroir. This is the tradition of Arrighi wines: products that bring to the glass not only the flavor of a land, but also the memory of those who worked that land two thousand years ago. No less eloquent is the story behind Valerius, an I.G.T. Toscana white wine aged in amphorae, made from 100% Ansonica grapes.
The name pays homage to Valerio Messalla, the former owner of Villa delle Grotte, the Roman domus discovered near Portoferraio.
Hermia, an I.G.T. Toscana white wine made from pure Viognier, also fermented and aged in terracotta, also refers to the same villa in San Giovanni. The name belongs to a real figure: Hermia, cellarman and slave of the villa, who lived about 2,100 years ago. On behalf of his master, Hermia traveled to Minturno, in southern Lazio, to purchase large jars, on which he stamped his name next to the figure of a dolphin—an emblem that recalls an ancient and fascinating legend from Asia Minor. Returning his name to a label means saving it from historical oblivion.
Among the labels that best represent this vision is Nesos – a true wine-making experiment inspired by archaeological discoveries related to the “wine of the gods” produced 2,500 years ago by the ancient Greeks on the island of Chios. Created in 2018, this marine wine is the result of oenological research conducted in collaboration with Professor Attilio Scienza of the University of Milan and Professor Angela Zinnai of the University of Pisa. It is now produced in a limited edition of 270 numbered bottles.
Nesos is made from Ansonica grapes immersed in the sea for five days, at a depth of between seven and ten meters, placed in wicker baskets. The sea—penetrating the grapes by osmosis without damaging them—gives the wine its salt, which acts as a natural disinfectant. After drying in the sun on straws, the grapes are vinified in terracotta amphorae with all the skins, without selected yeasts, without added sulfites, and without any stabilization. After a year of aging in the bottle, Nesos reveals itself to be a wine of extraordinary naturalness, spiritually akin to those Greek wines that Varro counted among the wines of the rich and used by Caesar in his banquets.
Arrighi’s experience embodies the profound meaning of ArcheoVinum: archaeology is not a decorative backdrop, but a productive soul—the root from which wine draws not only flavor, but meaning.
