WINE LABELLED TRIPLE A

“Agricoltori, Artigiani, e Artisti” is the motto at the heart of the Triple A movement, summing up its identity and key values. It was created in 2001 by Luca Gargano, a fine wine collector, rum specialist, and CEO of Velier, a large Italian importer of wine and spirits. This idea stemmed from Gargano’s concern that wine was becoming increasingly mass-produced, standardised, with more technology and less character, lacking terroir expression and the personal stamp of the producer. Considering this kind of wine less complex and less suited to ageing, he decided to create a label for wine with soul.

Luca Gagano’s manifesto revolves around the three foundations for wine with soul: abbreviated to the three As. Farmers (agricoltori): maybe this one speaks for itself, but the manifesto reminds us. To make a good wine, the fundamental work takes place in the vineyard, where producers tend to their vines using only natural interventions. Artisans (artigiani): the wine should be crafted with an artisanal spirit both in the vineyard and the winery, avoiding industrial-scale mass production. And finally, artists (artisti): the producer should be able to express their own personality and creativity through their wine, all whilst keeping in mind the importance of the terroir and the grape.

In practice,
what are the rules to follow for a producer to comply?

- Massal selection by hand
- No synthetic products used in the vineyard (like in organic farming)
- Respect for the vines’ natural cycles
- Clean harvests, and only once the grapes are at perfect ripeness
- No additives during vinification Only indigenous yeasts for fermentation (ie. no added yeast)
- Minimal use of sulphur, only allowed during bottling
- No physical or chemical interventions other than a simple temperature check Maturation on fine lees up to bottling
- No fining or filtering
- The best possible expression of the terroir

Triple A wines are essentially natural wines in the original meaning of the word: little or no sulphites, using entirely "natural" vinification methods i. e. without synthetic products in the vineyards nor in the cellar.