Joaquin Winery: Boldly Reinventing Irpinia’s Taurasi and Fiano

Posted by Rowena Dumlao Rowena Dumlao - Giardina 3/12/2025

Joaquin Winery: Boldly Reinventing Irpinia’s Taurasi and Fiano

Amid the untamed, rugged expanse of Irpinia, a rugged highland realm cradled by the Apennine mountains in Italy’s Campania, Joaquin Winery rises as a defiant homage to tradition and audacity. Joaquin Winery is a boutique estate that marries ancient vines with a daring winemaking vision. It was conceived in 1999 by Raffaele Pagano, a fourth-generation winemaker who broke away from his family’s high-volume winery to pursue his own path. Here, on just 3.5 hectares of Irpinia’s most storied slopes, Pagano crafts a mere average of 15,000 bottles each year, a defiant whisper against the tide of mass production. His mission was to capture the authentic soul of ancient vines, bottling wines that resonate with the raw energy of the terroir.

Raffaele Pagano, proprietor of Joaquin

In 2006, he unveiled his debut vintage from Montefalcione, a sun-scorched village in Avellino’s heartland. From the beginning, his goal was never volume—it was purity. Joaquin Winery is not a business of scale but of intention, where each vintage is a one-time project, dictated by the land and the year rather than market trends. His vineyards, some centuries old, are co-authors of this voyage, their roots tunneling through volcanic ash and limestone to channel Irpinia’s raw truth into every drop.

Pagano’s winemaking philosophy is rooted in the excellence of the materia prima, achieved through minimal intervention and low yields. For him, quality is inseparable from selectivity, believing that the concept of quality is inevitably linked to the quantity of production. Joaquin’s wines are produced in limited releases, with many labels bottled only in exceptional years, reflecting his uncompromising standards. Each vintage and vineyard plot is a distinct expression, shaped by the grapes, terroir, and the singular character of the year.

For Pagano, quality is a deliberate decision, it is a refusal to compromise. The winery produces only high-end wines, releasing only what meets his exacting standards. Each bottle represents a singular expression of Irpinia, a place where history is not just remembered but lived, vine by vine, parcel by parcel.

Irpinia’s Elemental Theater Where Climate and Soil Collide

Irpinia’s high-altitude landscape, cradled by the Apennines, sets it apart from the rest of Campania with its distinctly continental climate. Joaquin’s vineyards, nestled in the “green heart of Irpinia”, experience warm summers, crisp nights, and harsh winters, creating the ideal conditions for slow, balanced grape ripening.

In Paternopoli, one of the highest areas of Taurasi DOCG, Aglianico ripens exceptionally late, sometimes into November. The long growing season and dramatic temperature swings enhance the grapes’ aromatic complexity, refined acidity, and elegant structure, even in bold red varieties.

Beneath the vines, Irpinia’s diverse geological landscape is a patchwork of volcanic ash, mineral-rich clay, and calcareous soils, providing deep root penetration and excellent drainage. In Paternopoli, calcareous clay sits atop basaltic volcanic subsoil, a rare combination that imparts distinct mineral depth to the wines.

This terroir is both demanding and rewarding—fertile enough to sustain ancient vines yet lean enough to challenge them, forcing deep-rooted resilience. The interplay of continental climate, volcanic influences, and extended ripening gives Joaquin’s wines their signature balance of power and finesse, where freshness, structure, and minerality converge in every bottle.

Parcel-Based Winemaking: The Vineyards of Joaquin

Joaquin Winery’s identity is deeply rooted in its vineyards—each a singular piece of Irpinia’s geological and cultural puzzle. Unlike mass producers, Joaquin works exclusively with small, meticulously selected parcels, each labeled to highlight its origin. This parcel-based winemaking is a deliberate choice, driven by the belief that each site tells its own story. “The work we have been doing for more than 15 years is to research the best parcels in our territory. It’s not because we are fixated on it. It’s a choice—because this land demands it.”

Guided by agronomist Giovanni Biancolillo, Joaquin seeks out the most expressive, often ancient, vines. Among these, Lapio and Paternopoli stand apart as the winery’s crown jewels. In Lapio, a revered name in Fiano di Avellino, Joaquin cultivates 80- to 100-year-old Fiano vines, rooted in volcanic and clay soils at high altitude. These gnarled survivors produce minuscule yields of fruit intensely concentrated with honeysuckle, toasted hazelnut, and a saline whisper of the distant Tyrrhenian Sea. The cool, ventilated climate allows for slow ripening, preserving freshness, longevity, and a depth of character rarely found in white wines. In the vineyard, he employs modern precision, using technology to monitor vine health, yet in the cellar, his approach is uncompromisingly traditional and hands-off, allowing the wine to evolve naturally.

In Paternopoli, a 1.2-hectare plot of pre-phylloxera Aglianico stands as a testament to time. These 150- to 200-year-old vines, trained in ancient pergola systems, have miraculously survived the phylloxera plague that wiped out most of Europe’s vineyards. Planted in calcareous clay over basaltic volcanic rock, they produce grapes of staggering concentration, ripening slowly under the cool, high-altitude conditions. The wines from this land are primal yet polished, structured yet elegant, with an almost untamed, elemental power. These ancient vineyards, carefully tended by Joaquin’s expert team, are more than the foundation of the winery—they are living history, bottled one parcel at a time.

Winemaking: Producing What Nature Leads

Joaquin Winery produces a small portfolio of wines, each showcasing a unique facet of Irpinia’s grapes and made with unconventional vinification methods. Each wine, fermented and aged separately to honor its origin, is treated as a distinct project, marrying Irpinia’s raw materials with meticulous, unconventional methods.

Guided by oenologist Marco Paura, Pagano orchestrates spontaneous fermentations using wild yeasts, occasionally enhanced by neutral strains to amplify the grapes’ innate aromas. Rejecting temperature control in colder months and embracing stile ossidativo (oxidative techniques), Pagano coaxes complexity while keeping sulfites at just 80 mg/L—less than half the organic wine limit—a bold nod to restraint. The Aglianico undergoes a 30-day maceration in open vats, extracting rugged tannins and leaving zero residual sugar, while malolactic fermentation unfolds at nature’s pace, softening edges without dulling the wine’s wild core. Batonnage weaves texture into whites like Fiano, and measured oxygen exposure deepens aromatic layers, crafting wines that pulse with untamed vitality.

Pagano’s rejection of new oak barrique which covers the wine’s voice, fuels his rebellion. Chestnut and acacia have historical precedent in Campania (chestnut casks were used generations ago), and they allow slow oxygenation without “makeup” aromas. Instead, he employs bigger 500-liter tonneaux made of chestnut and acacia, their porous walls weathered by decades, allowing micro-oxygenation without imposing wood-influenced aromas. These are usually second or third-passage casks crafted in the area, which impart far less overt wood flavor than new oak.

Whites like Fiano ferment in stainless steel to preserve crystalline purity, while Aglianico ages in Slavonian oak, emerging with a profile as layered as Irpinia’s volcanic slopes. Patience reigns: the flagship Aglianico slumbers three years in casks and four more in bottle, evolving into a tempest of dark fruit and volcanic grit, electrified by acidity.

Joaquin’s Wines That Redefine Irpinia

Vigna Campo Aperto Fiano di Avellino Riserva DOCG
100% Fiano. From a sub-1-hectare plot in Lapio’s Contrada Rogliano (500m), this single-vineyard Riserva is hand-harvested, fermented in stainless steel, and bottle-aged to retain purity. Aromas of wildflowers, lavender, apricot, and fresh almond. The palate is smooth and vertical, linear acidity and saline minerality lead to a persistent, flinty finish. A Fiano that transcends varietal norms, balancing crystalline structure with savory depth.

Vino della Stella Fiano di Avellino DOCG
Joaquin’s flagship white, crafted from 80+-year-old Fiano vines in Boschi’s Contrada Arianiello (550m), a pinnacle of Irpinia’s Fiano terroir. Though Pagano dubs it his “workhorse” for its volume, the wine transcends simplicity. Naturally fermented and aged in stainless steel and bottle to lock in freshness, it bursts with golden apple, citrus blossom, and hazelnut aromas, underpinned by a flinty mineral spine. The palate melds textured depth with vibrant acidity, finishing with smoky minerality and age-worthy structure—a humble icon of Irpinia’s soul.

Fiano Piante a Lapio
A rare, boundary-pushing white from 100+-year-old Fiano vines in Boschi’s Contrada Arianiello (600m), Joaquin’s highest-altitude Fiano plot. Inspired by Jura’s oxidative traditions, the wine ferments spontaneously and ages 5 years in chestnut and acacia casks under a protective flor yeast veil, without topping up. The result is a deep amber hue with aromas of toasted almond, briny minerality, and wild herbs. The palate unfolds layers of dried apricot, honeycomb, and chamomile, anchored by a vibrant acidic spine that defies its oxidative richness. Bottled only in exceptional years, with fewer than 500 bottles released, this is Fiano reimagined, a daring dialogue between Irpinia’s terroir and audacious winemaking.

Fiano Piante a Lapio NV
A groundbreaking non-vintage expression from Joaquin’s crown-jewel Piante a Lapio parcel in Boschi, blending two stellar vintages of 2014 (40%) and 2020 (60%) to marry the 2014’s evolved depth with 2020’s electric freshness. Fermented and aged in chestnut and acacia tonneaux, then bottle-aged for a year, this oxidative white transcends Fiano’s norms. A white of extraordinary elegance and harmony, it transcends conventional Fiano with remarkable balance and layered complexity. Built for longevity, it solidifies its place as a benchmark for the varietal, structured yet ethereal, timeless yet groundbreaking.

Taurasi Riserva della Società DOCG
Joaquin’s crown jewel, born from 1.2 hectares of pre-phylloxera Aglianico in Paternopoli. Declared only in exceptional vintages and released after 8 years of aging (36 months in chestnut casks, 4+ in bottle), it marries raw power with alpine-cool finesse. A torrent of black cherry, iron, and smoked herbs unfolds over a bedrock of earthy tannins, lifted by a spine of electric acidity. Well-structured and very polished, it redefines Taurasi’s potential—a rare, cellar-worthy icon with fewer than 2,500 bottles crafted per release.