There is a vineyard that smells of the woods, not of sulfites. The soil is soft, full of insects, and when you touch it, it leaves an odor of life on your fingers. It is here, in the countryside of Castellaneta, that L'Archetipo has built its idea of agriculture and wine.
Andrea Di Benedetto tells the story of a family business - which, as a member of the Triple A manifesto, is a rarity for Puglia - born from the idea of his father Valentino and today cultivating 33 hectares, but has chosen to "not cultivate" in the traditional sense: no plowing, no herbicides, no invasive practices. "For ten years we haven’t touched the soil - Andrea explains -. We limit ourselves to observing it, because the land knows how to take care of itself."
Agriculture that mimics the forest
At the core of everything is synergistic agriculture, an evolution of biodynamics that rejects the idea of "treating" the land with preparations or fertilizers.
"We wondered: if my ecosystem is healthy, why do I need to keep introducing something? The forest doesn't need us, yet it works. That's where we found the answer."
Andrea shows the land: green grass, dry grass, tendrils, humus, and an infinite number of small organisms. "Look at how many insects, how many fungal hyphae... It’s a living world. This is what keeps the plants healthy."
The wild muscatel grows here, on a hectare of clayey-silty soil, with twenty-one-year-old vines trained on a free-standing trellis, a choice that harkens back to Rudolf Steiner's thought: freedom as the foundation of every healthy life.
A forgotten grapevine that returns to sing
"In our area, it's hard to find a sweet sparkling wine that is of quality," Andrea states candidly. From that observation, the project for the Moscatello Selvatico Spumante Dolce Millesimato was born: a commercial and cultural challenge together.
The nearly extinct native Apulian grape variety is blended with a small percentage of red-skinned muscat, which gives the wine its unmistakable natural coppery hue. "It is a color that we do not add; it comes from the red grapes and spontaneous fermentation."
The harvest, done by hand in early September, collects healthy and aromatic grapes. The result is a wine with 10 degrees of alcohol, light and aromatic, but with a mineral tension that balances its sweetness.
The ancestral method, the philosophy of time
In the cellar, patience reigns. Andrea explains how each bottle is born from a single natural fermentation, without added yeasts or external sugars: “We work with the ancestral method, not with refermentation. Nature does everything: we listen and accompany it.”
During fermentation, the must is transferred to an autoclave for the sparkling process. When it reaches the perfect point of sweetness, fermentation is slowed down with cold, preserving the natural residual sugar that defines the style of the wine.
It follows a long bâtonnage on noble yeasts, until natural stability, without filtration or clarification.
"It is a lively wine, sweet but not cloying – says Andrea –. It is the must that decides for itself when to stop, we do not impose it."
The Archetype: a family, a philosophy
The history of the company begins with Andrea's father, Valentino Di Benedetto, who in the 1990s left conventional agriculture to pursue an idea of harmony between man and nature. From there, came organic certification, biodynamic experimentation, and finally, the complete conversion to synergistic agriculture.
Today Andrea, along with his family, continues that vision. "We lost three years of production to achieve balance. Three years without selling, but we have gained in soil health, quality, and the truth of the wine."
Only a few work in the company – parents, children, some collaborators – but everything is taken care of internally: from the vineyard to bottling. Even the expansion is thoughtful: earthenware amphorae, large barrels, new trials on reds, and a rural hospitality project under construction among the vineyards.
"We want to welcome those who truly want to understand what it means to live on this land. Here, you don't just come to drink wine: you come to feel what it means to let it live."
The taste of freedom
In the Wild Muscat of the Archetype, there is much more than a sweet wine: there is an agricultural manifesto, an existential philosophy, an act of freedom.
“We do not want to dominate nature, but to walk alongside it. This is the true luxury of our time.”
Essential Sheet
Name: Wild Muscat Sparkling Sweet Vintage
Denomination: IGP Salento – Sparkling Wine
Grapes: Wild Muscat 95%, Red Moscato 5%
Method: Ancestral, unfiltered, natural sweet
Soil: Clayey-silty, rich in humus and calcium carbonate
Training: Free Raised
Harvest: Manual, early September
Production: 7,000 bottles
Alcohol Content: 10 + 3.5% vol
