Where am I? Napa or Campania?

[Craig Camp]

"There's nothing like it in Italy," said Enzo Ercolino, 48, who founded Feudi di San Gregorio in the 1980s. "You would have to travel to Napa Valley, or maybe Champagne, to find something similar."

[Echezeaux]

I can tell you : IT IS MUCH LIKE NAPA VALLEY!

We had attempted to make an appointment for a visit/tour/tasting. The "public relations" person at Feudi was, initially trying to sell us a "tour", asking us to select from their web site. They offer three "programs."

One is a $15 tour and tasting...the other two cost $50 and $60 respectively.

We visited the winery, having a quick walk through the facility (and it does appear as though it could be a facility one might find in Napa or Australia)...not having "signed up" for one of their programs, we were unable to taste any of their wines (this, despite the fact that the appointment had been arranged by a member of our party who actively sells Feudi wines in the U.S.)!!!

[albiston]

We visited the winery, having a quick walk through the facility (and it does appear as though it could be a facility one might find in Napa or Australia)...not having "signed up" for one of their programs, we were unable to taste any of their wines  (this, despite the fact that the appointment had been arranged by a member of our party who actively sells Feudi wines in the U.S.)!!!

This sadly matches to my own experience with Feudi. A few years back ('98) I took part to a cellar visit organised by my local AIS (Associazione Italiana Sommelier) group. The visit had been organised by one of the AIS members who is a minor investor of Feudi. We had been promised a tasting of different wines, from the "every-day wine" line to some of the top ones produced by Feudi, guided by one of Feudi's enologists (spelling?) plus the chance to discuss about production strategies and such.

The experience was very disappointing: the wines served were only those of the "every day" line (and quite a few wines less than promised) and we hardly saw anyone from Feudi's wine-makers, forget discussing about production strategies. We asked if there had been some misunderstanding but we got no comprehensible answer back.

I would have hoped they had changed their way of relating to wine enthusiasts but it would seem that's not the case. It makes me even more angry since Feudi is one of the leading (if not THE leading) wine producers in my own region, Campania .