Giulio & Margarita

We’re Giulio and Margarita Steiger. In 2015, we moved from Paris, France, to Molise, where Giulio was born, in search of an untouched land where to plant a vineyard, create a wine cellar and raise our children close to nature. We chose to build the Azienda Agricola Steiger-Kalena on a beautiful hill in the valley of Contrada Olivoli in the town of Casacalenda, in front of the lake of Guardialfiera, about 30 km from the Adriatic coast.

The name of the winery recalls the ancient name of the town of Casacalenda: Kalena. The estate extends over about thirty hectares, twelve of which are planted with vines, and the rest with olive trees, pasture, and forest. The 12 hectares of vineyards are divided into 24 small plots, in which the grape varieties cultivated are: Montepulciano, Aglianico and Tintilia. The vines were planted using the Italian Pergola system, which protects the grapes and the soil from the powerful rays of the sun during the hot summers.

The cellar is entirely underground and is located among the vineyards, which ensures that the grapes are pressed immediately after harvesting, while preserving the freshness of the fruit in the best possible way. Fermentation takes place spontaneously and without temperature controls, after which the pomace is separated from the wine and pressed through a traditional French press. Depending on the type of wines, refinements will follow in concrete tanks or wooden vats and barrels.

All our bottles are the result of assemblies of the Montepulciano, Aglianico and Tintilia grapes, and give life to unique wines with a great territorial link. The Passatella, which name derives from the typical card game that is still played in Casacalenda and that is often accompanied by this wine, includes all the grapes and wines that are not selected to form the other wines. The harvest is done by hand and the grapes are collected in boxes, after which are immediately loaded onto the trailer and sent to the cellar where they are completely destemmed and crushed. The must then goes to ferment with the marc in exhausted wooden wine vats. After the alcoholic fermentation, the pomace is pressed, and the wine returns to the vat where it will refine for about eight months before bottling.