Grape Of The Month = TINTILIA
We are highlighting an interesting grape each month, including a special promotion for some of the wines.
So, for August 2025, my inaugural Grape of the Month celebration turns the spotlight on Tintilia del Molise and the wines of Cianfagna.
There are a few ways to celebrate this month:
- enjoy special sale prices on 6 Tintilia wines (click here);
- save more $$$ (12%) on Tintilia by the case (auto discount online);
- spend min $250 to get a SURPRISE GIFT from the Tintilia collection!
TINTILIA - take a bow!
As you may know, we love rare grapes. Italy is full of them ;)
Not only is Tintilia a little known variety (even inside Italy) but the region of Molise is also a bit of a mystery too. An article on the BBC explains more about the obscurity of Molise. The phrase "Molise doesnt exist" even went viral - with the hashtag #ilmolisenonesiste.
Tintilia is still only about 2% of Molise’s vine plantings (Montepulciano takes up c. 50%) and it’s pretty much non-existent outside this tiny Italian region, with very little exported. It’s certainly a rarity for the Singapore market.
For the month of August, we want you to explore this delicious grape, so if you buy a bottle of Tintilia in August you'll get a great discount; if you buy a case of 6 bottles (any Tintilia wines) you'll get our lowest ever prices when the website automatically discounts by 12%; if you order any other wines in our collection to the minimum value of $250 we'll add a surprise GIFT bottle of Tintilia to your delivery!
Need help with this month-long campaign? Get in touch via email HERE or message +65 8322 5042.
GRAPE GEEK
Tintilia del Molise is believed to be an ancient variety.
Ampelographers (botanists who specialise in the identification and classification of grapevines) have studied the grape’s DNA, comparing it to similar Italian red wine grapes, and found it to be a unique species that is endemic to Molise.
It is not a widely known grape but in recent years it has started to gain some much deserved recognition among wine enthusiasts. A Molise wine made predominantly (95%) from Tintilia was awarded DOC status in 2011.
How about the character of Tintilia as a wine?
Expect a deeply coloured wine (both the rosato and the red) with pleasant aromas of pepper, tobacco and liquorice. The fruit notes can vary from raspberry or strawberry, to blackberry or plum. It's hard to compare to others, but you may spot some similar traits to other southern grapes like Primitivo, Negroamaro or Aglianico.
CIANFAGNA - our Molise winery!
Molise is located right below Abruzzo (formerly combined as a single region called Abruzzi e Molise) and above Apulia (the heel of the Italian boot).
Our winery in Molise is called Cianfagna. The vineyards are 250km east of Rome, over the other side of the Apennines; 30 km inland from the Adriatic Sea. The vines grow at 500 meters above sea level, on mostly clay soils.
The family has worked the land here since 1860 and started its first winery in 1999. Currently, the grape growing and winemaking is overseen by Vincenzo, with support from his wife Filomena, plus their son and daughter - who both hope to join the family business when they grow up!
Across Cianfagna's 4 hectares of vines, they grow a small quantity of the local white Malvasia, and some Aglianico, but their passion is the rare red Tintilia grape.
They have been a strong voice for the region in promoting Tintilia as the key grape of Molise, arguing for regulations that ensure only high quality wine is being produced for the market. This is an important strategy to safeguard the reputation of the grape, and help build a sustainable future for Molise wine.
In total, Cianfagna's production is below 20,000 bottles a year. Their 'riserva' wine, called SATOR Gran Maestro (reduced from $110 to $88 this month) has a very limited production and is only produced in the best years. For example, their 2011 bottles all display a hand-written number out of the total 2,600 produced.
To put that in perspective, Cloudy Bay produces around 720,000 bottles a year - just of their flagship Sauvignon Blanc wine! Penfold's Grange is estimated at 80,000 to 100,000 bottles a year. Krug produce over 5 million (500,000 of Krug Vintage) and even DRC's flagship 'limited production' wine is around 5,000 bottles.
So when we call our wineries "artisan" and "small-production" we really mean it ;-)
Final note - on ancient inspiration!!!!!
Take note of the labels for SATOR and also ROSATOR, displaying the sator square!
What's the sator square? It is a 5 word poem that can be read horizontally and vertically, forwards and backwards - “Rotas Opera Tenet Arepo Sator”. A multi-directional palindrome!! ;-)
Translations and interpretations vary, but it loosely says that “the sower guides the wheel with care”. It has been read as “as ye sow, so shall ye reap” or “the farmer decides his daily work, but the supreme court [the gods?] decides his fate”.
However you interpret the SATOR square, it reads like yet another example of viticulture as a teacher of natural philosophy.
Click below to explore all the wines made from Tintilia del Molise:
