06 August 2023
Borgo San Gregorio is a wonderscape that includes all the hospitality offerings of Feudi di San Gregorio, a leading winery in Irpinia and one of the most important in Southern Italy.
At Borgo San Gregorio, Feudi aims to concentrate and share the beauty and uniqueness of its territory, catering not only to wine lovers but also to the curious ones. A place of total immersion in art, taste and design, dedicated to the discovery of a lesser-known Southern Italy, one that is characterized by mountains and forests, hills and cultivated fields dotted by vineyards, fruit-bearing trees, aromatic herbs and olive groves.
Borgo San Gregorio is a synesthetic adventure, an open journey that starts with wine and engages all the senses. A vast, open-air Wunderkammer that allows guests to identify with the pioneering spirit that has driven Feudi di San Gregorio's curiosity since its foundation to encounter and engage with new realities and new languages tied to the world of wine through an unceasing desire for discovery.
This is how BE CURIOUS is born: a project and hub that encloses the long-standing artistic and cultural journey undertaken by Feudi di San Gregorio to enhance its territory.
A TASTE FOR ARCHITECTURE
The heart of Feudi di San Gregorio’s architectural experience is the winery. Built in 2004 from the designs of Japanese master Hikaru Mori, it has been exhibited twice at the Biennale dell’Architettura thanks to its interpretation of Irpinia’s inherent beauty, lending a contemporary face to these ancient rural lands. The winery is a mixed experience of interiors and exteriors, featuring underground spaces and gardens crossed by water.
Inside the facility, visitors cannot miss the recently renovated restaurant, Marenna. Renovation was entrusted to architect Roberto Liorni, who led the space dedicated to gourmet experiences towards an intense dialogue with the nature of Irpinia, which takes center stage inside the restaurant. A striking example is the bird's nest-shaped structure located at the center of the main hall, where guests can experience unique vertical tastings paired with dedicated menus. We should also mention the «Teatro del Vino», a theater-like hall dedicated to technical tastings or for sharing a bottle of wine.
Feudi di San Gregorio winery and Marennà are places that become “spaces” to be experienced, welcoming visitors and engaging them in the world of tasting and design. They are a must-visit for those who appreciate the interaction between innovation and tradition in its less conventional form.
ART AND WINE
For Feudi di San Gregorio, the birth of wine follows the same creative process that generates a work of art. For this reason, starting in 2011, a partnership between Feudi and contemporary art began, aiming to give value to the Irpinia territory and its community.
The first artist to get involved was photographer Mimmo Jodice, followed by Marinella Senatore, Vedovamazzei and Pietro Ruffo, each of whom left a tangible mark of their art inside the winery.
The most recent project, inaugurated in July 2023, features the Californian artistic duo Fallen Fruit who – with their distinct style – have ventured for the first time into creating an outdoor artwork, completely adorning the exteriors of the winery's new guesthouse. Fallen Fruit's work involved the creation of marvelous and sumptuous spaces where visitors can enjoy museum collections in new and unexpected ways, radically changing public participation and the function of urban spaces as well as exploring the meaning of community through the creation and sharing of new and abundant resources, just like fruit trees.
DESIGN AND SIGNATURE LABELS
For Feudi, design and wine are so closely intertwined that they have become one with the labels produced.
The graphic genius of Massimo Vignelli gave birth to all the revolutionary labels of Feudi di San Gregorio from 2001 onwards: a visionary yet rigorous graphic translation of the company's soul, giving a contemporary interpretation to the outstanding winemaking tradition of its territory.
Vignelli's “lesson” served as an example for the bottle of DUBL ESSE, Feudi’s Metodo Classico Dosaggio Zero. But this time, creating the label was Fabio Novembre, one of Italy's most acclaimed contemporary architects and designers, who drew inspiration from the papal tiara of Pope Gregory the Great, after whom the estate is named.
The passion for wine design is further cultivated in the project Etichette d’Artista, carried out in collaboration with the Fondazione di Comunità San Gennaro, of which Feudi is a founding member. Since 2014, Feudi has been transforming “site-specific” works of the artists into limited edition labels and proceeds are entirely donated to the Foundation led by Father Loffredo. This further proves how the local community is at the center of the company's values, which are also reflected in the transformation of Feudi di San Gregorio into a Benefit Corporation in 2021, and, the following year, into a B Corp (a certification that rewards companies based on their performance in generating a positive impact on employees, the environment and their local community through “giving back” initiatives).
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Architecture, art, design, community. Be Curious is one of the most significant avenues through which Feudi actively supports the process of enhancing and understanding its beloved territory, making Borgo San Gregorio an essential destination to experience the expressive richness of Irpinia.
