The farming co-operative, La Guardiense, was founded over 60 years ago by 33 farsighted, collaborative farmers. Today membership has grown to nearly 1,000, but still only managing a total of about 1,500 hectares meaning that the fruit comes from a large selection of very small family owned vineyards. The winery is situated in the Santa Lucia area of Guardia Sanframondi in the very heart of the southern Italian province of Benevento. The land is full of undulating hills and expansive plains, each helping create a patchwork of micro-climates protecting the vines from the greatest excesses of the local heat and cold and ensuring the resulting wines are of the highest quality. Cover crops are grown amongst the vines to force the vines to root deeply. Great attention is paid to the environmental sustainability which is adopted at each stage of the transformation process using renewable energy produced by its own innovative photovoltaic system. Combine this with having Ricardo Cotarella at the helm who is one of the best known and most respected winemakers in Italy, this is proof that Cooperative winemaking is not to be sniffed at.

The Janare Aglianico has a deep color with garnet hints. Cherry nuances melt with sweet vanilla notes given by ageing in the wood. On the palate it is full, powerful and intense with a light and soft tannins with a long, mouthfilling finish. Careful selection of the grapes, picked by hand using small crates. The grapes are macerated on the skins for 18 days with pumping over in stainless steel tanks. A malolactic fermentation is then made in 500lt Tonneau barrels and aged in Tronçais and Alliers barrique barrels for 6 months, bottled 2 years after the harvest. 100% Aglianico