Ageing Italian wines is slowly becoming a trend. Many wineries across the country are showing greater ambitions than ever before, organising vertical tastings, building up library stocks, and re-releasing small quantities of back vintages.

Yet few take the idea as far as Roberto Di Meo, the only producer to regularly release Fiano and Greco wines aged 10 years or more.

The only comparable example might be ‘Rarity’’ from Cantina Terlano in Alto Adige.

Campania’s inland Irpinia is emerging on the global stage, but is still penalised by wineries’ needs for quick cash flow, which leads them to sell their white wines when they are still young.

This makes Di Meo’s work all the more remarkable, reaffirming a potential that is still mostly unexpressed.

The secret vat

Almost nobody knew that Roberto Di Meo had been hiding a single vat of his 1993 Fiano.

‘It’s the only lot from the 1990s that deserved being kept aside for decades. Luckily, there has been more consistency between vintages from 2000 onwards,’ he states.

After 33 years, the wine was finally released in December 2025, celebrating Roberto’s 60th birthday, and marking the 40th anniversary of the estate in 2026.

A tiny production of 2,800 bottles and 500 magnums, it is simply labelled as vino bianco and available via allocation through Di Meo’s importers worldwide.

‘It’s a wine from another era,’ affirms Di Meo. ‘That doesn’t mean current releases won't age as well – current techniques might yield even better results. But with a modest 12% alcohol, its slender style is impossible to replicate in the face of global warming.’

A quiet revolution 

While Di Meo might not carry the international recognition of Mastroberardino or Feudi di San Gregorio, Roberto and his parents, Vittorio and Alessandra, were pioneers of quality Campanian wine, turning a 17th century hunting estate into one of Irpinia's first commercial wineries in 1986.

A winemaker by training, Roberto almost immediately began channelling his interest in longevity into the estate’s production.

‘I’ve always been obsessed with ageworthy whites,' he explains. 'I was already collecting bottles from France and other parts of Italy back then. But in those early years, I didn't have the technical expertise to make one.

‘The climate was also a hurdle – many seasons in the late 1980s and ‘90s were so cold in Irpinia that we struggled to hit even 11.5% alcohol. 1993 was the first vintage that provided the right concentration – still relatively rainy but with milder temperatures. From that point on, I began setting batches aside.’

His Tempo (‘time’) collection, however, only saw the light of day 21 years later.

‘I had already conceived two top-shelf expressions of Fiano – Alessandra, and the oak-aged Colle dei Cerri – in the early 2000s, and started holding them back.

'But, in 2014, I made a step further by launching the 2000 Erminia, which had spent nearly 14 years on the fine lees in stainless steel.’

What makes Fiano so ageable?

Fiano has always been the cornerstone of Di Meo's Tempo collection, accounting for four out of the six late-release wines made at the estate.

A high-acid, late-ripening variety, Fiano is usually shier in its youth than Greco Di Tufo, Irpinia’s other key native white variety.

It rarely reveals its full potential until at least three or four years after harvest, after which it evolves very slowly.

‘You can spot the difference even in the juice,’ Di Meo explains. ‘While Greco turns golden with minimal oxygen during fermentation, Fiano’s pale straw hues remain.’

The project begins in the vineyard, with the four Fiano wines originating from specific plots surrounding Di Meo’s cellar in the township of Salza Irpina, at between 500 and 550 metres above sea level.

‘Within a mere 200–300 metres, not only the soil but also the slope and exposure vary significantly, leading to different outcomes,' he says.

'This is proven by the fact not all parcels perform well in every vintage, forcing us to skip some releases. Furthermore, not everything that is aged hits the market.’

All in the lees

Lees aging in stainless steel is the primary means through which these wines are kept intact.

As Roberto explains: ‘Fine lees protect and enrich the wine. When you age it in an inert vessel for such an extended period, the risk is hyper-reduction, avoided precisely by stirring them.'

One question might be whether these wines can stand further ageing after release.

‘Of course they can!’ replies Di Meo. ‘In fact, I usually offer multiple vintages for sale.’

He acknowledges that his business model isn't for the faint of heart.

‘Some lots simply don't run the distance, forcing you to discard them. But the ones that do – like this 1993 – justify the entire endeavour.’

While the 1993 vintage commands over €250 (roughly £216) per bottle, the other Tempo wines in the range remain more affordable considering their pedigree.

For those seeking a more immediate introduction to the house style, the 2024 Fiano di Avellino displays remarkable precision and elegance, even in its youth, and reaffirms that quality isn't just a result of time, but also of a clear vision and exceptional grapes.

A taste of time

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My first visit to southern Italy didn’t start well. I was flying from Rome to Palermo in Sicily, and the air conditioning cut out as we ascended. I fell asleep, or passed out, and woke up drenched in sweat.

The airport was undergoing renovations and as I waited in the makeshift baggage-reclaim hall, my eye was caught by some activity.

Some locals had peeled back the flimsy metal of the improvised building to create a direct exit to the real world. They were crouching down and disappearing through it to stand outside, smoking in the hot air as they waited for their cases.

I was in a strange land – one that I didn’t understand and still don’t.

Palermo alone would be too much to grasp, a city where people spend more on their sunglasses than their scooters, where every bar is full at 2am on a Tuesday morning, where old women gather to drink Campari and soda in the afternoon in a way that’s inconceivable in England.

The problem of comparison

Wine is one way into southern Italy – a major success story, but a messy one.

The region makes everything you can think of, from oaked Chardonnay to orange wine, from Sardinia’s Vernaccia di Oristano, aged under a layer of flor yeasts in the barrel, to the lithe, sinewy reds of Nerello Mascalese from Etna.

To some, this looks like chaos; to others, it’s creativity.

Etna is the closest thing the south has to an ambassador, but even these wines tend to be positioned in relation to the north, the reds being frequently compared to Nebbiolo or called ‘the Barolo of the south’ – an epithet applied to various red wines from Italy’s islands and regions south of Rome (sometimes described as the Mezzogiorno) that prove they can play by northern rules.

The Roman writer Ovid tells us that Zeus imprisoned the titan Typhon under the island of Sicily because he couldn’t kill him. Etna is his mighty head, his splayed limbs reaching out to Messina and Noto, his legs pinned down under present-day Marsala.

The island’s earthquakes and eruptions are Typhon’s attempt to break free of his overlord. Etna, then and now, is chaos managed, destruction contained, catastrophe postponed.

Endlessly fertile despite the barren flows of lava, the ground is a rich, composty brown.

Visiting Ciro and Stef Biondi’s eponymous winery, it’s no surprise to see ancient phalluses unearthed and re-erected in their vineyards, which sit in the fertile tongues between the lava flows.

The misty ground here steams with what seems like Jurassic plenitude. Sicily doesn’t need Etna to justify it, but it has helped, even if the volcano is just one facet of wine here.

Across the island, increasingly brilliant wines are being produced from varieties such as Catarratto, Nero d’Avola and Frappato.

A reputation for greatness

Over the water, Campania (the ‘shin’ of mainland Italy) has been restoring its ancient reputation for greatness.

Falernian, a famed wine of the Roman era, was made here – the 121 BCE vintage was so famous it was still being talked about by Romans 200 years later.

And the vineyards of Pompeii, a town just south of Naples that had more wine bars than modern Hackney, are producing wine once again.

Away from the glittering Amalfi coast, Campania conceals one of Italian wine’s greatest surprises. Irpinia, the land of Taurasi, Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino, is almost comically verdant.

It can get twice as much rain as London, and its fertile soils, rich in volcanic ash, sulphur and much else besides, produce world-class wines.

It’s the long-lived whites that command critical attention, but it’s with the Aglianico grape that southern Italy puts forth its most heroic red wine.

The death or glory grape

On the volcanic soils of Campania and Basilicata, Aglianico (in the form of Taurasi DOCG for the former and Aglianico del Vulture DOCG for the latter) delivers wines of Homeric scale: ambitious, grand and elemental.

A visit to Salvatore Molettieri in Taurasi isn’t for the faint-hearted.

He runs his estate with his four sons, who appear to have sprung from his thigh in his image. Aglianico isn’t a crop here, it’s a point of honour.

The purple pasta we eat over lunch is laced with it, and the wines seem to operate on some other timescale of evolution.

They are ferociously dark-fruited and muscular, pungent with coal dust and black carbon ink, spiked with resinous rosemary and medicinal juniper, encased in tannins, energised by acidity.

A great Taurasi or Vulture wine is often too far beyond wine’s polite points of reference, so there’s been an effort to make them more friendly.

I taste these wines and understand them, but they leave me conflicted, like hearing about a dilapidated old building with enormous renovation costs that’s now being torn down to make way for modern flats.

I don’t want to feel sympathy for Aglianico. At its best, it’s blood and glory, more like Islay whisky in sensibility than anything else.

Peated malts such as Lagavulin, once deemed too coarse to drink undiluted, are now one of Scotland’s most distinctive and valuable assets. Perhaps Aglianico will have a similar story.

Cirò reconsidered

If Aglianico is Achilles in a glass, Calabria’s Gaglioppo offers a radically different flavour.

The red grape of Cirò is everything Aglianico isn’t: early maturing, easily dominated by oak, pale in colour, with scents of dried flowers and grated nutmeg.

It has tannins, of course – we’re still in Italy – but it’s a variety that seems to draw on the dried spices of the bazaar and the aromatic woods of the sacristy.

Thanks to a small group of growers who have shown inspiring loyalty to Gaglioppo, Cirò is finding its way forward with remarkable conviction and authenticity, its small Classico zone promoted to DOCG as recently as July 2025.

Here you can find some of Italy’s most palate-expanding whites, reds and rosés: wines that stand on their own terms.

The grammar of granite

Over on the island of Sardinia, Cannonau has begun to shed the soft-focus cosiness that’s often expected of the variety (elsewhere known as Garnacha or Grenache).

The Mamoiada region in central-east Sardinia, a world away from the glamour of Porto Cervo on the northeastern coast, is craggy, wind-scoured and granite-bound, and the wines carry some of that gravitas with them.

The reds of Barbagia are still finding their voice, but they show that even when the grape is familiar, Italy’s south doesn’t want elocution lessons – its local accent is what makes it distinctive.

A blue-collar grape

And what of Puglia, on Italy’s heel, and its primitive Primitivo?

If you were to ask a wine professional what their favourite grape is, they would probably say Riesling, even if it’s not, but I’m certain that no one has ever said Primitivo.

Much like the Carignan shipped from Tangiers to beef up Burgundy in the 20th century, Primitivo travelled north to darken other regions’ wines.

There was no first-class ticket for this immigrant from Croatia (where it goes by the names Crljenak Kaštelanski or Tribidrag); Primitivo is a worker, somehow uncomfortable and pulling at its collar when served in a Zalto glass.

It doesn’t move easily in the aspirational wine world. At Fatalone in Gioia del Colle, Pasquale Petrera’s immaculately tended vineyard is idyllic.

The wine he makes from it is a real Primitivo: rugged, sturdy, heady, full of baked plums and fig jam.

Primitivo isn’t a perfectionist. Its bunches arrive with berries that are raisined, berries that are perfectly ripe, and berries that are green.

Far from being fruity filler for fattening up the deficient wines of the north, Primitivo is a scrappy, difficult variety, one that’s all too easy to stigmatise and ignore.

It’s a variety that’s had a hard life. It has travelled all over the globe on a third-class ticket, but it has seen things in the world that Pinot Noir can’t even imagine.

Changing perspectives

For those who want to tidy up, straighten out or pin down southern Italy, it will always be a frustration.

It has always resisted mastery – and it still does. But where there can’t be mastery, there can be something far better: discovery.

Every native grape variety, every twisted old vine and every family coming back to the land has something to tell us.

There’s no El Dorado here, no piles of gold for vinous Columbuses to quickly plunder and take home, but there are committed winemakers, passionate local cultures and much that’s waiting to be understood, rather than domineered.

You can’t start to rethink southern Italy if your frame of reference is northern Italy or France, or your goal is to bring the wines and places into step with more familiar names.

But if you love the thrill of great Vosne-Romanée, then you have it in you to love the great wines of southern Italy.

If you’ve found your way inside the soul of a great Brunello, you can do it again with Taurasi.

That’s what counts – and it’s all anyone needs in order to understand southern Italy and its wines.

Soul of the south: Southern Italy in a glass

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Campania’s trio of Taurasi, Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino in the Irpinia region receive the majority of critical acclaim, but while that acclaim is deserved, they tend to overshadow what is, in reality, a much more complex region than we’re led to believe.

It’s a land bursting at the seams with historical grape varieties, pre-phylloxera vines, volcanic terroirs – and winemakers working hard to unlock the success of their better-known peers in the Irpinian DOCGs.

Scroll down for notes and scores of 12 volcanic Campania wines

Forging an identity

Campania has an unsurpassed heritage when it comes to the grapevine.

When the first Greek settlers arrived on the southern half of the Italian peninsula in the 8th century BCE, they brought with them vines, presumably not expecting to find an existing healthy viticultural tradition.

Pithecusae, located on the island of Ischia, is thought to be the oldest Greek settlement in Italy.

According to Pliny the Elder, its name derives from pythos (amphorae), of which there was a significant production industry – particularly for wine storage – and there’s plenty of archaeological evidence today.

The Romans, who began expanding into southern Italy in the 4th century BCE, knew these lands as ‘Magna Graecia’ (Greater Greece), but by the 1st century CE, Campania was very much Roman.

The vine-covered mountain

Stabiae, for example, located southwest of Pompeii, overlooking the Bay of Naples, was a prestigious resort for well-to-do Romans, with luxury clifftop villas.

It was here that Pliny’s life was extinguished during the explosive Vesuvius eruptions of 79CE, as he first attempted an ill-fated rescue mission by ship to save residents of Herculaneum, before being forced to divert to nearby Stabiae, where his friend Pomponianus had a villa.

Baiae, on the northern side of the Bay of Naples, was notorious among ancient writers, including Seneca, Cicero and Propertius, for its hedonism, moral corruption and debauchery, boasting renowned thermal springs thanks to the volcanic landscape of Campi Flegrei.

Advanced aquaculture techniques resulted in a lucrative oyster farming industry, particularly around the Bay of Naples, generating vast wealth for the most successful entrepreneurs.

The celebrated Roman wine Falernian was also made in Campania, from vines growing on the slopes of Mount Falernus, now Monte Massico, northwest of modern-day Naples in the province of Caserta.

Pliny the Elder wrote that Falernian reached its peak at 15-20 years. This amphora-aged, rich, amber-coloured liquid was served to senators, consuls and emperors, and fetched the highest prices: a price list on the wall of a tavern in Pompeii declares:

‘For one “as” [coin] you can drink wine

For two you can drink better

For four you can drink Falernian’

Vesuvio

The 200 hectares (2022) of Vesuvio DOC’s vineyard surrounding Mount Vesuvius are home to the likes of varieties Caprettone, Coda di Volpe, Falanghina, Greco, Aglianico, Guarnaccia Nera, Sciascinoso and Piedirosso.

They produce a variety of white, rosé and red wines, not least the historical, sumptuously titled Lacryma Christi (‘Christ’s tears’ – see box), which can only be made using the native grapes of Vesuvius that reach the fullest levels of ripeness – the wines can be made in a range of colours and styles, including still, sparkling, passito and liquoroso.

Despite such a long history of viticulture (vines were grown on Vesuvius in Roman times), the wineries of Vesuvio DOC are all relatively new – the majority under 20 years old, making them contemporaneous with the modern pioneers of one of southern Italy’s other standout volcanic terroirs: Etna.

Fourth-generation winemaker Ciro Giordano (pictured, above) at Cantine Olivella (founded in 2004), located on Monte Somma on Vesuvius’ north side, remembers a simpler time when families would grow grapes and other produce to feed themselves and to sell as wine locally, before socio-economic development led to commercial operations springing up during the early 2000s.

Today, he spearheads a progressive program of change as president of the Vesuvio DOC consorzio.

Believing wholeheartedly in the precious indigenous varieties planted around Vesuvius, he explains that the first step was to encourage Vesuvio’s producers to move away from oak in favour of neutral vessels to better show both the territory and the grape – only one notable winery continues to stick solely to wood.

Giordano also tells me, proudly, that he has succeeded in curtailing corruption, which was once rife, and has helped to bring the various consorzios closer together in order to communicate in unison the message about Campania’s wines.

Lacryma Christi

The name ‘Lacryma Christi’ has its roots in the Roman myth of Bacchus/Dionysus shedding tears of joy that gave life to the vines of Vesuvius; it was later adapted by Christian monks, who asserted that when Jesus ascended to Heaven, he looked down and wept at the beauty of the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. Where his tears fell, vines sprang up.

A more prosaic explanation is that the name comes from those same monks using a canvas or cloth to filter the wine, ‘tears’ forming as the liquid dripped through.

Catalanesca

Cantine Olivella was the first to take on the challenge of raising the rare Catalanesca to new heights, releasing the first varietal wine in the same year, 2006, that it was registered in the national catalogue of wine grapes.

In 2011, the variety was further recognised with a dedicated IGT: Catalanesca del Monte Somma, covering several municipalities of Monte Somma, the ancient extinct volcano where Cantine Olivella is situated.

This high-yielding white variety was traditionally a sweet and juicy table grape, but grown in the ashen, volcanic soils of the area and then vinified, it achieves a level of acidity and sapidity that balances its soft, ripe flavours perfectly.

Although only produced by a handful of wineries across a handful of hectares, Catalanesca is worth tracking down; it rewards with its immediate appeal but also with its ageability, developing petrolly, Riesling-like notes after a few years in the bottle.

The famous San Marzano DOP and smaller, lesser-known Piennolo del Vesuvio DOP tomatoes also thrive on Monte Somma thanks to the complex, mineral-rich soils, which are older than those of Vesuvius, and a pincer grip of winds both from the sea in front and the Apennines behind.

The cool evening breezes endow the vegetables, grapes and other fruits grown here with both balance and freshness, and provide the perfect conditions for organic agriculture.

Caprettone

Meanwhile, on the south side of Vesuvius, Massimo Setaro (pictured, above) of Casa Setaro proclaims, ‘my goal is to put the focus on Caprettone’, a white grape named after the appearance of the bunches, which look like a goat’s beard.

It was only recognised as a distinct variety in 2014, having frequently been confused with Coda di Volpe previously.

Since Setaro’s father’s first vintage in 2004, the estate has prized its 25ha of ungrafted vineyards of red and white varieties, gnarled and twisted with age, some as old as 150 years or more, according to Setaro.

Setaro tells me he has no need to buy saplings at a nursery. Thanks to the volcanic soils, the dreaded phylloxera bug never ravaged the vineyards in the Vesuvio DOC to the extent it did elsewhere, so a surprisingly high proportion of vines remain on their original rootstock.

Like other producers in the area, Setaro practices the ancient art of calaturo: burying a shoot of an ungrafted vine with the tip exposed, separating it from the mother plant only once the shoot has established its own root system.

Setaro makes a range of reds and whites, including the first metodo classico sparkling wine of the Vesuvio DOC, a 100% Caprettone that harnesses the grape’s body, structure and acidity for a saline, zesty and apricotty glass of sunshine.

While Caprettone works well as a sparkling wine, Setaro proves that it’s also a delicious still wine, both as a single varietal and in a blend. ‘I think it’s the best grape of this area,’ he asserts.

Aryete spends six months on the skins in amphorae for a complex and zesty, almost smoky white, while the Contradae 61.37, from a mixed vineyard with plantings that date back to the 19th century, is about half Caprettone with Greco and Fiano, co-fermented in stainless steel.

The result is out of this world: flint, stone fruits, apple, lemon peel, a leesy backbone and bright minerals all pull together.

Piedirosso

While much of Campania is dominated by white grapes, in Vesuvio and Campi, Flegrei Piedirosso (aka Pèr e Palummo) is the star.

This late-ripening red grape, with its small bunches, can be a bit of a diva. The first bud always dies, so it requires long shoots and a long growing season to be productive.

The grapes have a high pH (low acidity), and if the must isn’t well oxygenated with pumpovers during fermentation, it’s prone to a reductive stink.

But managed carefully, Piedirosso can turn out beautifully light and fragrant red wines in the same vein as Schiava from Alto Adige, Valpolicella from Veneto or Frappato from Sicily.

While there’s still some work to do here, the best examples shine for their fragrance, energy, balance and transparency.

Falanghina

Campi Flegrei is a DOC with 101ha of vineyard (2021).

The area is a volcanic caldera of near-super volcano proportions, which extends from the western outskirts of Naples out into the Gulf of Naples, consisting of 24 craters that still possess tremendous explosive potential.

Earth tremors here are a weekly affair, according to Cristina Varchetta (pictured, above), whose family founded the Astroni winery in 1999 on the steep eastern slope of the Astroni crater, which rises up to 261m above sea level.

The air dense with wafts of sulphurous fumes venting from the earth, Campi Flegrei feels a bit post-apocalyptic – especially since some of the small villages in the area have been permanently evacuated in recent years due to the increasing risk from earthquakes.

The main plantings in Campi Flegrei’s volcanic yellow tuff and sand soils are Falanghina and Piedirosso.

The name Falanghina is thought to have derived from phalanga, the ancient Greek term for the poles used to train the variety’s vigorous shoots.

Today, there are two recognised biotypes, Falanghina Flegrea from Campi Flegrei’s volcanic soils and Falanghina Beneventana from the alluvial soils of Sannio (the ancient land of the Samnites) in the province of Benevento.

Falanghina Flegrea differs from the more fruit-forward Falanghina Beneventana; instead, expect supremely savoury, mineral expressions that perfectly reflect its otherworldly, volcanic terroir.

As with Cantine Olivella in Vesuvio, Astroni is seeing excellent results with amphorae. Its Tenuta Jossa project has, since the 2018 vintage, produced a blend of Falanghina and Fiano aged in Clayver and Tava amphorae.

Varchetta explains that they are also finding the neutral character and oxygenating effect of these vessels perfect for Piedirosso, and hope to have a commercial release soon.

Heroic Amalfi

Things get much steeper along the Amalfi Coast, about an hour’s drive south. Winemakers here practice ‘heroic’ viticulture, working the pergola-trained vineyards on the steep terraces by hand.

Along with Falanghina, Aglianico and Piedirosso, local varieties include Biancolella, Fenile, Ginestra, Pepella and Ripoli, all white.

The soils are mostly limestone with clay, rather than volcanic, yet many of the older vines are nonetheless ungrafted; some planted horizontally into the face of the terraces.

One of the most celebrated producers here, Marisa Cuomo, tells me her workers put in 2,000 hours per hectare every year.

She and her husband own 6ha and rent or buy from another 40ha – do the maths and you can see why they call it heroic!

Wherever you look, the spirit of Campania’s wines is the same: reds of mineral composition and full of energy, and versatile, structured whites.

Next time you’re in Naples, on the Amalfi Coast or Cinque Terre, I urge you to seek out some of these undersung wines and sip the heritage of this incredible part of Italy.

Lesser-known Campania in 12 wines

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For many years, Italian wines from the coast have primarily served as holiday treats or nostalgic souvenirs.

Once vital on water-scarce shores and islands, viticulture faded as tourism soared, and the remaining growers often shifted from distinctive – if extremely rustic – local styles to generic production.

Paradoxically, Bolgheri, a relative newcomer, became the country’s first sea-view wine hotspot, when Mario Incisa della Rocchetta of Sassicaia set a new standard for maritime Italy by first exploiting the combination of gravelly soils and cooling sea breezes.

But renewed interest in Mediterranean culture and increased competition are now driving coastal producers to revive ancient traditions and defy low yields and high labour costs by crafting small volumes of characterful, well-positioned wines.

A selection of must-try wines from the Italian coast listed below

The patchwork of climates and soils along Italy’s 7,419-kilometre coastline makes generalisations tricky, yet a thrilling freshness for such sun-kissed areas is the common thread among top coastal wines.

Some link this to maritime winds: ‘They provide elements like sodium and potassium, which add to the wines’ freshness when managed properly, strengthening their saline backbone,’ affirms Vincenzo Varchetta, co-owner of Radici Vive in Campania.

Yet, given marine residues are often modest in finished wines, other factors must also be considered.

‘The sandy or limestone soils of these areas and the phenolic tanginess of coastal varieties play a major role in shaping this peculiar identity,’ suggests Konstantin Spinetti, winemaker at Stella di Lemmen in Cinque Terre.

The Mediterranean’s thermoregulating effect results in modest rainfall and stable temperatures with moderate diurnal swings.

While such conditions would usually accelerate ripening, local grape varieties excel at slow maturation, achieving moderate alcohol and preserving aromatic integrity while expressing a captivating Mediterranean soul.

Liguria: Quintessentially coastal

With its narrow shape and precipitous ridges plunging into the sea, Liguria is Italy’s quintessential maritime wine region.

Despite limited cultivable space (just 46,000 hectolitres are produced annually), its often-terraced vineyards, constantly swept by sea breezes, yield extremely contemporary wines that are highly sought after for their herbal brightness and zesty acidity.

This complements the local cuisine, which relies on seafood, vegetables such as trombetta courgettes, and herbs like basil and parsley.

Vermentino, highly resistant to salt-laden winds, is the flagship variety here. The Pigato variety along the ‘Ponente’ (west coast) gives distinctive versions with Riesling-like nuances enhancing ageability, while Colli di Luni on the border with Tuscany offers the most perfumed and high-acid renditions, drawing on both sea and Apuan Alps.

Other local white varieties include Cimixa and Bianchetta Genovese on the Levante (east coast), yielding even lighter wines. Rossese, a promising red grape, thrives in the far-western Dolceacqua DOC.

No Ligurian wine area is more iconic than Cinque Terre, where traditional heroic viticulture is threatened by surging tourism, yet remains crucial for preserving the staggering vertical landscape around the five world-famous villages.

‘The vineyard area has plummeted from 900 to just 51 hectares in 50 years. Abandonment doesn’t only cause landslides but also makes viticulture more difficult for the remaining producers, as parasites proliferate in unmanaged plots,’ remarks Spinetti, who crafts eloquent, garrigue-scented wines from Stella di Lemmen’s biodynamically-farmed six-hectare plot on dramatic slopes, only reachable by monorail.

Mediterranean bonanza

More than for their salinity, coastal Tuscan reds often stand out for their ability to capture the aromas of the maritime vegetation surrounding the vines.

‘Libeccio [a south-westerly wind] disperses the essential oils of the aromatic plants among the bunches,’ says Silvia Menicagli of the Fornacelle winery in Bolgheri.

Varieties aside, the best whites in coastal Tuscany also blend the same macchia (scrubland) imprint with uncommon complexity.

Perhaps the most peculiar Tuscan coastal grape is Ansonaco/Ansonica, the only one to defy relentless winds and drought in the Tuscan archipelago.

In top terroirs like Giglio island’s granitic soils, this thick-skinned variety yields characterful, deep-coloured whites that bridge the gap between typical white and red wines.

With their tangy phenolics and light tannic bite, they match stewed rabbit with herbs, a common island dish.

Southern Riviera

Heading south, the Campania region is another tourist hotspot where vineyards overlook the Tyrrhenian Sea, both on the Amalfi Coast and Cilento, and on the island of Ischia, where the Biancolella grape yields light and herbal wines.

However, the Campi Flegrei area just north of Naples has witnessed the most remarkable upheaval recently. Consisting of volcanic slopes with almost ashy soils that surround active craters, the vines often boast breathtaking views of Capri and Ischia.

‘Volcanic sands favour the absorption of marine elements more than any other soil, making our Falanghina and Piedirosso exceptionally savoury,’ explains Varchetta.

A lovely summer red, Piedirosso blends Beaujolais-like juiciness and lightness with a saline zing and a smoky touch. When served slightly chilled, it works perfectly with Marinara or Margherita pizza.

The other coast

Less travelled than the west coast, except for Romagna’s bustling sandy shores, Italy’s eastern Adriatic coast mainly features either flat or gently sloping terrain.

Cool air currents from the Balkans compensate for the lower elevations, however, resulting in milder temperatures than in the west, especially in the northern and central sections.

The northeastern-most vineyards of Adriatic Italy lie near the Slovenian border.

Here, orange Malvasia or Vitovska from the rocky Karst plateau facing the Gulf of Trieste produce complex skin contact wines: extended maceration often elevates their aromatic expression and strengthens their austere, almost stony grip.

Heading south, red grapes take centre stage. Montepulciano yields full-bodied reds on the white cliffs of Mount Conero, the Marche region’s only coastal high peak.

However, Adriatic rosé best captures the maritime essence.

Pergola vineyards flanking Costa dei Trabocchi — named after the spider-like fishing engines dominating pebbly inlets — produce some of the most savoury Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, a dark Montepulciano-based rosé suitable for matching with the traditional brodetto (fish soup with tomatoes).

Rosé is also a key wine in Puglia’s Salento peninsula, where intermingling airflows from the Adriatic and Ionian seas contribute to characterful expressions of Negroamaro and Susumaniello.

The island of Passito

While mainland Sicily boasts notable coastal vineyards, including those facing Marsala’s famous salt marshes, the region’s most prized maritime viticultural area lies off its coast.

An 84-kilometre island in the Sicilian channel, closer to Africa than to Sicily itself, Pantelleria was the first place in the world to earn the UNESCO Intangible Heritage recognition for its viticultural tradition.

‘Pantelleria is in a perilous area of the Mediterranean, so farmers preferred raising cattle and tending vineyards instead of fishing,’ explains Josè Rallo, co-owner of Donnafugata. Local growers train the iconic Zibibbo (Muscat of Alexandria) bush vines as low as possible to ensure they resist mighty winds.

A significant proportion of the grapes is picked in early August and dried under the sun to make Passito di Pantelleria, a luscious, raisiny wine that develops exotic, umami complexity with age.

This was demonstrated by a recent vertical of Ben Ryè, a benchmark expression defying the category’s downward commercial trend and matching both desserts and savoury cheeses (including Zibibbo-infused sheep’s milk tuma).

Under-the-radar

The quest for coastal gems continues in Sardinia. Vermentino is widespread, especially in the Gallura region in the north where it has its own DOCG, and often owes its velvetier texture to a touch of residual sugar.

However, the most fascinating coastal wines hail from century-old, ungrafted Carignano vineyards that almost touch the turquoise waters of the area and Sant’Antioco island in the southwest, surviving thanks to humidity and sandy soils that resisted the arrival of phylloxera.

Tiny islands are yet another treasure trove of heroic wines, as shown by Candidaterra in Ventotene, located 14 miles west off the coast of Lazio.

Once a prison for opponents of the Fascist regime, the 1.89km2 atoll is now a niche tourist destination, attracting those seeking a peaceful retreat.

A blend of Falanghina, Fiano and Greco co-planted on its white calcareous coast, Candidaterra’s Pandataria has an uncanny ability to evoke its rugged and enchanting ambience through a mix of marine scents and lusciousness from sun-drenched fruit.

It reaffirms once again the enormous potential of Italy’s under-the-radar coastal terroirs.

Visiting coastal wineries

While most Italian coastal wineries welcome visitors, space constraints and building regulations often mean the vineyards themselves are far more striking than the structures.

However, noteworthy exceptions exist.

For instance, Donnafugata’s stone cellar in Pantelleria is cozy and sleek, surrounded by an enchanting garden brimming with caper plants and flowers.

Fontefico in Abruzzo boasts an eye-catching lavender labyrinth and a glass-walled tasting room, offering views of the Adriatic Sea beyond olive groves and vineyards.

Though not directly sea-facing, Lunae in the Colli di Luni area is conveniently close to tourist hotspots like Cinque Terre and Versilia.

The estate features a state-of-the-art winery and a contemporary bistrot serving elegant, light dishes crafted from ingredients sourced directly from their orchard.

10 coastal Italian wines to try:

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Besting last year’s record, the 2025 Naples auction raised just over $34m. Unique wine experience lots fetched in the range of $500-800,000 and a package with a wine-coloured Bentley netted $1.7m.

Top wine lots included a curated trip provided by Napa’s Staglin Family Vineyard. Two couples will join the Staglin family on a tour of Switzerland – an experience complete with luxury nights, Michelin-star meals in Geneva and Chamonix and a custom Panerai watch for each guest. The trip also includes plenty of wine, with each couple receiving a six-litre bottle of Staglin’s new release Cabernet Sauvignon. The lot sold twice for $800,000, netting the charity $1.6m.

Also selling at $800,000 was the lot titled ‘Meet Me on the Right Bank’, a five-night use of the accommodation at Château Troplong Mondot sponsored by Bordeaux Concierge. The luxury trip included plenty of Michelin-star meals, private tours and tastings with Château Troplong Mondot’s Grand Cru Classé neighbours.

An eight-night stay at various Antinori properties, from Villa Tignanello in Tuscany to the Umbria estate Castello della Sala was also on offer. The final prize, which was won for $750,000 includes rare Antinori wines in jeroboams and magnums. (A full list of the Naples auction lots is available here.)

Since its inception in 2001, the Naples Winter Wine Festival has raised over $336m. That money has been used to fund the Naples Children & Education Foundation (NCEF), which has worked with various charities and agencies, impacting over 350,000 children in the last 24 years.

All those programmes and initiatives have been funded by the weekend of events, a silent online auction and the one-day auction. The 650 guests gather for a weekend, where they’re wined and dined with some of the top châteaux and estates from Pomerol to Tuscany to Napa Valley and a cadre of America’s most famous chefs.

So, how has this upstart wine and travel auction in South Florida come to dwarf the earnings of auctions with rich histories like the Hospices de Beaune and Auction Napa Valley?

The children of Collier County, Florida

‘It’s for the kids’ is a refrain you hear repeatedly at the Naples wine weekend. That’s how this whole thing started. Local residents wanted to find a way to make a difference in the lives of children within their community.

Collier County, Florida, has some of the most lopsided economic disparity in the world. According to a Collier County Community Needs and Assets Assessment study by Q-Q Research Consultants in 2021: ‘The top 1% of residents in the county have an average household income of $4,191,055, while the bottom 99% have an average household income of $57,258.’

The county government does not fund any social services that serve the county’s children.

As part of the Naples Winter Wine Festival, attendees can see the impact of their donations at Meet the Kids Day, one day before the auction. There is an opportunity to mingle with the children, to see the programmes the festival funds and hear first-hand testimonials about the change it has helped create.

A 17-year-old boy named Dawson shared his story with auction-goers. He lost his mother, who battled addiction, just a year ago. His father struggled to find him the help he needed, but for an auction-funded non-profit called Valerie’s House, which provides mental health and grief counselling services to children. Dawson spoke to the crowd about his journey, his plans and the impact of the funding that goes to the programme, which ‘saved him.’

The foster parent of a five-year-old boy named Colson shared his journey. His mother was severely addicted to drugs. He lived with her in a car, where she sedated him with pharmaceuticals and sometimes marijuana. When he came into foster care, he couldn’t speak and would often spend days curled in the fetal position. The NCEF-funded Able Academy changed his life with an early childhood curriculum aimed at reaching traumatised children. At the end of the presentation, Colson came on to the stage, reciting his ABCs for the crowd, giving a heartwarming thank you and a wave.

The Naples Children & Education Foundation has commissioned seven third-party studies of the impact of its grants and funding. It has a four-star (out of four) rating from Charity Navigator, a third-party organisation that analyses charitable and non-profit organisations.

The Napa connection

While the event has become fully international, it has important early roots in Napa Valley. One of the organisation’s founders is Jeff Gargiulo.

Jeff Gargiulo was born and raised in Naples, Florida, and his family business took him to California, eventually leading to the purchase of a vineyard and winery, Gargiulo Vineyards.

Gargiulo kept a home in Naples and still spends plenty of time there. ‘A group of us here, we were determined to do something to address a need that we saw in Collier County with a lack of services for children. As we thought about what we might do, seeing the success of Auction Napa Valley inspired the idea.’

While Gargiulo may have had a foot in both worlds, the event in the result of a strong collaboration between Napa neighbours like Clarke Swanson and the founding group back in Naples.

‘Since there wasn’t an auction like that in the winter, we thought that we could maybe have a wine-focused auction here that would allow us to raise money for these local children’s support services. In the first year, we had Harlan, Jean Phillips with Screaming Eagle, Gil Nickel from Far Niente and others,’ Gargiulo explained, showing California’s iconic winemakers’ early and persistent commitment.

Creating a culture

For many of the big names of Napa, there has been a long commitment to the Naples auction; this is about more than friendships; it’s about the mission and culture evident in the organisation.

Don Weaver, founding director of Harlan Estate, shared that the legendary label has been an active donor to the event for 23 of its 25 years. ‘At Harlan, we’ve got a big soft spot for kids. We and our wines travel around the world, so we feel like a part of a worldwide community and, with that, a greater sense of responsibility. We do well, and so we feel a sense of duty to help others.’

David Duncan of Silver Oak started coming in 2003. ‘The intent and the organisation of the group that manages the event, the stewardship, and, of course, the impact makes us feel very good about supporting the NCEF. You see that impact with your own eyes at Meet the Kids Day. It’s impressive. They are doing it at the highest level, and we’re privileged to be involved for as long as we have.’

From its beginnings in Napa to the village of Vosne-Romanée, the Naples auction has an international footprint. Wineries like Allegrini, Antinori and Krug have joined Napa names like Silver Oak, Darioush, Accendo Cellars and Jackson Family Wines for more than a decade.

Count Louis-Michel Liger-Belair, of Burgundy’s Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair, talked about how the culture of local giving that he witnessed in Naples when first attending in 2017 has impacted how he and his wife Constance have changed the way they think of their local community.

‘For us, Naples really changed the idea of committing to the community locally,’ said Liger-Belair. ‘We often think of the needs of people in faraway places, and being a part of this experience, we saw those helping people immediately around them. It had a tremendous impact on us.’

Liger-Belair related a story about purchasing a property in Vosne-Romanée, and instead of converting it to a rental property, donating the house to the community. It serves as a café, a post office and a food bank. ‘Thanks to NCEF, it opened our eyes to the needs of our local community. It opened our eyes to the fact that there are people in need right next door,’ Liger-Belair concluded.

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Lying between the Tyrrhenian sea to the west, Basilicata to the east, with the regional capital of Naples at its hub, Campania is a colourful patchwork of wine sub-regions and diverse indigenous grape varieties. Principal varieties are the red grape Aglianico and white grapes Greco, Fiano and Falanghina – but that tells only half the story, because of a plethora of native varieties.

Marisa Cuomo’s Costa d’Amalfi Fiorduva boasts a blend of Fenile, Ginestra and Ripoli for instance, and what other Decanter World Wine Awards Platinum award winner can match that?

Scroll down to see notes and scores for Anthony Rose’s 12 wines to try from Campania

The main sub-regions of Campania lie inland from Naples: to the north in Benevento province are DOCG Aglianico del Taburno and DOCs Sannio and Falanghina del Sannio. In Avellino province you can find DOCGs Fiano di Avellino, Greco di Tufo and Taurasi, as well as DOC Irpinia. Significant coastal sub-regions include Campi Flegrei, the Sorrento peninsula, Costa d’Amalfi and the islands of Ischia and Capri.

The kaleidoscopic diversity of terroirs and grape varieties can be confusing for potential importers but, as local expert and author Paul Balke notes: ‘Campania is a truly exciting region because of the differences in the wines, the many grape varieties and wine styles.’

Worth seeking out

Campanian wine’s rapid progress in drinkability and freshness has begun to permeate the consciousness of Italian specialist importers in the UK. Astrum Wine Cellars, for instance, represents the excellent Pietracupa; Jascots carries Mastroberardino; Lea & Sandeman stocks the classy wines of Luigi Maffini; Hallgarten Wines distributes Feudi di San Gregorio; and Enotria&Coe brings in the wines of Antonio Caggiano and Cenatiempo. Most of these wines go to specialist retailers, restaurants and wine bars, while availability on the high street is more patchy.

At this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards, the region’s wines were represented by two Platinum medals, one Gold, 22 Silver and 45 Bronze.

Of the 25 most successful medal winners, only a handful have a stockist in the UK, and this mismatch between the growing quality of Campanian wine and its lack of visibility on the high street is a shame. We can only hope that the UK wine trade will immerse itself in Campania and take on board what great value and choice the more modern styles of wines coming from this wonderfully scenic region have to offer.

Anthony Rose’s 12 wines to try from Campania

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Campania’s regional capital Naples has an air of excitement about it, a palpable energy – anarchic at times – that makes it unique among Italian cities. Living right next to a potentially active volcano (Vesuvius) can do that. Eclectic architecturally, this strategic port on the Bay of Naples has been shaped by its many histories, from ancient Greek and Roman times through myriad periods of occupation, to its role as one of Europe’s major cultural centres from the 16th-18th centuries. It was a capital of the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies until Italy was unified in 1860.

Greek vines landed in Italy near Naples in the 8th century BC, and from there spread throughout the peninsula. Wine was an integral part of Roman culture and at Pompeii traces can still be seen in vineyards replanted using the Roman grid. The Campania region is home to many of southern Italy’s most important grape varieties, from whites Fiano and Greco di Tufo to the robust red Aglianico, used in Taurasi. Minor varieties that grew on volcanic soils survived phylloxera and are now being rediscovered, including Falanghina and Piedirosso. Vines are grown throughout the region, with wines produced in every terrain, from the Amalfi Coast to the high hills of Irpinia and the Cilento.

Where to stay

Naples is best explored on foot: just leave your Rolex at home. To make things easier, stay at one of the B&Bs in the House in Naples group, in the city centre, which offer environments more homey than the grand seafront hotels.

Where to eat

Naples was forged by the noble classes but its popular food culture owes more to its less well-off. Pizza began life as a humble circle of baked dough smeared with a little tomato sauce and folded into quarters just like a handkerchief, ‘a fazzoletto’, for easy eating in the street.

There are dozens of great pizzerias in Naples. Gino Sorbillo Lungomare, on Via Partenope, offers sourdough pizza along the seafront. At 50 Kalò (50kalò.it), Ciro Salvo is a modernist featuring top quality ingredients in his artisanal pizzas. For a more refined dinner, Aria has one Michelin star and a chef, Paolo Barrale, who spent more than a decade cooking at Feudi di San Gregorio winery in Irpinia. On offer are two tasting menus.

For an authentic osteria with heirloom recipes, drive east from Naples to Sant’Anastasia, one of the towns at the foot of Vesuvius. ’E Curti is named ‘the short ones’ in dialect for the late brothers Luigino and Antonio Ceriello, who were little people in the circus before they retired to run the family osteria. Traditional dishes feature the ingredients of the volcano, including pointy, intense del piennolo tomatoes. My favourite is spaghetti ’o sicchje ra munnezza, which translates as ‘garbage pail pasta’, combining toasted hazelnuts with walnuts, pine nuts, raisins, olives and piennolo tomatoes in a sauce unlike any other.

Where to drink

The best way to taste wine in Naples is at an enoteca, meaning both wine shop and wine bar. Chic but relaxed Enoteca Ebbrezza di Noè (@lebbrezza_di_noe) is in the affluent Chiaia neighbourhood, which covers a long stretch of the seafront. The wine list features many Campanians, accompanied by some delicious food. Lovers of natural wines will be happiest at Vineria Bandita (@vineriabandita), the first enoteca dedicated to these wines in the south of Italy. Naples is also an aperitivo town: cocktails are a serious proposition and nowhere more so than at the jewel-box L’Antiquario (@lantiquario_napoli), one of the World’s 50 Best Bars in 2022.

Places to visit

Northwest of Naples, the volcanic Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields) are producing mineral, exciting wines from white Falanghina and red Piedirosso grapes. La Sibilla, has high vineyards overlooking the gulfs of Pozzuoli and Naples. Cantine Astroni’s are on the Astroni crater, with wines made in clay amphorae and barrels.

Insider tip

Don’t miss the city’s world-class Museo Archeologico Nazionale as it houses the treasures of Pompeii and Herculaneum in mosaic floors and painted frescoes, removed from the excavations for safekeeping. Among the stunning depictions of sea creatures and forest hunts are many showing vines and grape bunches: the ancient Romans loved their wine. Both excavation sites are day trips from Naples.

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Who would have imagined that mature Vernaccia di San Gimignano could offer an almost Burgundian combination of luscious creaminess and mouthwatering salinity at age 25?

The 1997 Carato by Montenidoli left assembled professionals in awe during a masterclass held as part of the annual anteprima event in San Gimignano earlier this year.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 10 ageworthy Italian white wines

Vernaccia di San Gimignano was the first Italian white wine to carry the Riserva designation, so the fact that it ages gracefully should be no surprise. Its actual potential, however, isn’t always evident when sampling young examples, which often hit the market too early and display either simple fermentative aromas or unintegrated oak.

The (slow) rise of ageworthy whites

While drinking Italian whites within a couple of years from harvest continues to be the norm, the demand for top-shelf examples with some bottle age has slowly but steadily grown over the last few years, especially in fine-dining restaurants: Per Se in New York City and The Ledbury in London are two examples of world-famous establishments currently featuring back-vintages of Italian whites in their extensive wine lists.

‘Restaurants do request back-vintages of premium Italian whites,’ stated Mark Perna, sales and marketing director at UK importer Astrum Wine Cellars, ‘mostly from regions such as Alto-Adige, Sicily and Campania, which are building a reputation for their ability to produce ageworthy whites.’

One of the main strengths of the category is the excellent quality-to-price ratio: ‘Dramatic price increases in other countries such as France have opened the door for Italy,’ Perna noted.

Versatility with food is another factor: mature white wines have the aromatic breadth and poise required to match a wide variety of dishes, including those featuring vegetables, cheese, mushrooms or truffles as main ingredients.

Northeast

Northeast Italy offers the country’s largest variety of whites built for the long haul. Friuli-Venezia Giulia shines for its skin-contact (orange) wines, which are often held back for years before release and age like fine reds, while Alto Adige’s cooperatives have mastered the art of making premium non-macerated whites.

Sebastian Stocker, head winemaker at Terlano – Alto Adige’s oldest cooperative – from 1954 to 1993, kick-started the tradition by keeping stainless steel casks containing Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon on the fine lees aside. ‘There was no knowledge and no market for aged whites in the early going, yet Stocker wanted to show the potential of low-yielding vineyards on Terlano’s volcanic soils,’ explained Rudi Kofler, current winemaker at Terlano. ‘He loved Champagne, and aimed to make still whites that offered the same leesy complexity.’ Starting from the 1979 vintage – released in 1991 – these wines began giving life to the Rarity collection, Italy’s most critically-acclaimed set of late releases.

Nowadays, the entire production of Terlano is made to last: Kofler suggests even entry-level offerings drink well for at least 10 years. The selections go even further: a recently tasted 1998 Nova Domus proved remarkably youthful. It was poured alongside an awe-inspiring 1957 Terlaner Vinoteca Storica, reaffirming the immortality of the wines from this terroir.

Northwest

Virtually unknown until 20 years ago, Timorasso from the Colli Tortonesi area of southeast Piedmont is the only Italian white wine that bases its entire reputation on the ability to improve with age. Late ripening, sensitive to rot, and suffering from millerandage (uneven ripening of the berries), it faced extinction before producer Walter Massa rediscovered a tiny 0.5-hectare parcel in the late-1980s. Thanks to him and a small number of other producers, by the late-1990s there were 40 hectares of Timorasso planted, while today there are over 330 hectares.

The key to Timorasso’s success lies in an almost unique combination of Riesling-like mineral complexity, enticing savouriness thanks to soils similar to those found in the Barolo area, and substantial palate weight given by the warmest and driest climate in Piedmont. ‘Time is the main ingredient to make great Timorasso,’ explained Massa.

In line with this principle, the soon-to-be-approved Derthona Timorasso DOC will require at least one year of ageing for the annata wines and two years for Riserva, while also introducing the Chablis-like Piccolo Derthona category for those wishing to focus on early-drinking styles.

Central Italy

Central-Eastern Italy’s favourable environment, with verdant hills stretching from the foothills of the Appenine mountains to the Adriatic coast, hasn’t always been exploited for quality winemaking: Verdicchio from the Marche region, for example, still struggles to overcome stereotypes deriving from the lean crowd-pleasers sold in amphora-shaped bottles that flooded international markets in the past.

Top examples of Verdicchio can age very well, however: Riserva from Castelli di Jesi shows some affinity with aged white Burgundy, developing nutty aromas and a bold yet savoury palate over eight to 15 years in the cellar. Meanwhile, those from the inland valley of Matelica recall alpine wines with their herbal nuances and long-running acidity balanced by a richer structure. Look out for examples by Bisci, Bucci, Fattoria Coroncino and La Monacesca.

South of Marche, the native Trebbiano Abruzzese is an inherently qualitative grape, but the workhorse Trebbiano Toscano still accounts for the lion’s share of Trebbiano d’Abruzzo DOC production. Stubborn advocates of the former, such as Valentini and Emidio Pepe, make almost immortal low-intervention wines that often develop Montrachet-like aromas of mushrooms, white chocolate and L’ Aquila saffron.

Pecorino has also proved capable of producing long-lived wines that are slimmer and less flamboyant, but equally distinctive. Top versions by Cataldi Madonna, Pasetti, and Masciarelli (Castello di Semivicoli) exuded herbal freshness after several years in bottle at a recent tasting.

The ‘white queen of Tuscany’, Vernaccia di San Gimignano usually shows moderate acidity levels and therefore mainly relies on salinity, phenol-driven tanginess, and a rich texture to stay lively in the long run. ‘Vernaccia’s mid-palate concentration is its armour to defy time,’ stated Gabriele Gorelli MW during a masterclass on their ageability.

While the Riserva category gives plenty of ageworthy wines, even the less ambitious and deceptively uncomplicated ‘annata’ wines evolve slowly. A vertical tasting of Selvabianca, the entry-level offering by Il Colombaio di Santa Chiara, made a case for that, with the 2014 and 2013 vintages still not showing any signs of oxidation.

Making ageworthy white wine

Common practices for the production of ageworthy whites include cold soaking before fermentation, and extended lees ageing. ‘Lees ageing is essential to stabilise the wines and make them less prone to oxidation,’ explained Rudi Kofler.

Ageing vessels also play a fundamental role: while barrels suit international grapes best, wines made with native grapes typically undergo fermentation and maturation in stainless steel or larger oak vessels, which helps to preserve varietal character by denying or minimising the uptake of oak flavours.

South

Southern Italy’s best known white wine-producing region, Campania shares a similar story with Colli Tortonesi: the vineyard surface has grown at a slower pace, but the number of commercial wineries in the region has risen from fewer than 10 to over 200 in the last 40 years.

Top Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo always shine in the long run, the high diurnal swings in the inland Irpinia region favouring the development of ripe acidity and stable aromatic compounds. Aged examples may be hard to find, however, as most producers are too small and/or lack the history to be able to offer older vintages.

Di Meo is an exception to this rule, and their late releases prove the potential of both grapes: Vittorio reflects the bolder and earthier style of mature Greco, while Alessandria and Erminia highlight the inoxidisable vibrancy of Fiano.

Coastal whites such as Falanghina from the Campi Flegrei area also deserve attention: 10- to 15-year-old versions poured recently offered attractive honeyed flavours complicated by smoky nuances and zingy salinity.

‘The key to the longevity of our Falanghina lies in the volcanic soils,’ said Gerardo Vernazzaro, owner of Cantine Astroni. ‘Despite not being as acidity-driven as Fiano or Greco, our wines are rich in long-lasting aromatic molecules and mineral flavours.’

A bright future

The sheer variety of cellar-worthy white wine options from Italy is exhilarating, and this is likely to become even greater in the future as new ageable whites are emerging.

Carricante from Etna looks especially promising, with prolonged cellaring allowing it to flesh out without losing its distinctive steeliness. And so, too, do top-shelf Vermentino, Trebbiano Spoletino from Umbria, and Lugana from the shores of Lake Garda.

Ageworthy Italian white wines

Five pairs of wines illustrating the ageability of white wines from around Italy

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When the producer pulled out of his pocket a wrought iron key to an ancient door, it was easy to imagine that we would soon be transported to an old cellar, but I never would have imagined walking into a Roman cave. This is Campania, filled with hidden gems, stratified with tradition, and teeming with profound viticulture.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 30 wines from Campania to try in 2023

I was visiting La Sibilla, a winery named after the homonymous oracle who was believed to reside just a few miles away. Sibilla was Zeus’s lover; human but immortal, left only with her voice. The estate lies in the Procida promontory where the Campi Flegrei appellation shines for its personality due to old, ungrafted vines on volcanic soils facing the sea. Even the faint Falanghina (to call a spade a spade, in comparison with Fiano and Greco), emerges here with quality thanks to tart citrus fruit, vibrancy and chalky minerality.

White or red?

Campania is in a constant state of limbo between calling itself a white wine region or a red one. If we look at the numbers for hectares planted, it is apparent that white grapes represent 46% of the production while red grapes comprise 54%. These numbers were released during a ‘special edition’ tenth-anniversary event, held in Pozzuoli, close to Naples, in autumn 2022.

The location and the numbers give way to another hidden aspect: the region is studded with indigenous white grapes: obviously Fiano and Greco, but also Falanghina, Biancolella, Ripoli, Fenile, Ginestra and so on.

The coast shines for its bone-dry whites full of spicy minerality. Their appeal is fed by idyllic pairings with pizza, pasta and the Mediterranean diet of the region, but also by the seasonal tourism from charming islands such as Capri, Ischia and Procida plus the Sorrentina and Amalfitana coastal zones. Just thinking about these picturesque places is enough to make your mouth water!

Technically speaking, the old vines and the influence of sea breezes contribute to keeping yields moderate, giving the wines greater concentration and length. This is one of the best indicators for Campania, where tradition tends to allow the vines to produce higher yields.

Coastal Campania

If Campania is tiny, representing just 2-4% of total Italian production (source: Agea-Sian), the appellations along the coast don’t even account for 30% of the whole region – the Salerno province including the Amalfi Coast, Naples with Procida, and partially the Caserta province represent around 26% of Campania’s production. However, in terms of quality, this coastal area helps to raise the bar for Campania’s wine reputation.

That said, those who have the patience for ageing can enjoy Aglianico on a par with the deepest and most ageworthy red wines of Italy. Taurasi, for example, commands attention from wine lovers due to its structure – although the trend for less extracted, crunchy and more vinous examples of both Aglianico and Piedirosso is not slowing down. Keep an eye out for great recent vintages such as 2017, but also 2019 or 2015.

30 wines from Campania to try in 2023

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What’s in a name? The region of Campania lives up to its billing as a scenic landscape of verdant rolling hills dotted with picture-postcard hilltop villages and medieval castles. Within an hour’s drive from Naples airport, Irpinia in the Campanian province of Avellino is readily accessible. Winding and weaving your way up hill and down dale, there’s a perpetual view of wooded hills on the opposite side of the valley.

The lack of any tourist infrastructure here might be off-putting to some, but the region’s rural charm is a magnet for the independent-minded traveller in search of wines that embody the local aromas and flavours of the region: the two white DOCGs of Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino, and the red DOCG of Taurasi.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 10 top Aglianico wines

Taurasi itself is a patchwork of vineyards lying on slopes at altitudes between 300m and 700m, facing all four corners of the compass in 17 communes.

These communes are split by the Calore river, which divides the DOCG into eastern and western parts, while the terrain of clay, limestone and sandy soils with occasional underlying volcanic rock is another key factor in bringing body and minerality to the wines. Average annual production is – according to Taurasi, A Cura di Lorenzo Matteo (Rogiosi Editore, July 2021) – some half a million hectolitres, or roughly 67 million bottles.

Taurasi: key elements

Created in 1993, the Taurasi DOCG area covers about 1,000ha over 17 municipalities with more than 150 wine producers and 104 bottlers. It is an enclave within the greater Irpinia Aglianico DOC, which covers 2,000ha with 123 producers (including some who also declare the DOCG wine). The areas do overlap in places, and sometimes both Taurasi DOCG and Irpinia DOC are produced in the same vineyard.

According to the Consorzio Vini d’Irpinia, the Taurasi DOCG planted vineyard area stands at 472ha, and Irpinia DOC at 519ha in total (including other varieties red and white).

Taurasi DOCG Requires at least 85% Aglianico with up to 15% of other permitted grapes, namely Piedirosso, Sciascinoso and Greco Nero. Taurasi must undergo a minimum of 36 months of ageing, at least 12 of which should be in wood.

Taurasi DOCG Riserva Requires at least 48 months of ageing, at least 18 of which should be in wood.

Irpinia Campi Taurasini DOC A sub-zone within Irpinia DOC covering 24 small municipalities. Requires at least 85% of Aglianico and at least 10 months of ageing.

Irpinia Aglianico DOC Requires at least 85% Aglianico with no minimum ageing.

The pioneers

In his 1985 book, Life Beyond Lambrusco (Sidgwick & Jackson), the late Nicolas Belfrage MW wrote: ‘The most important, indeed the only significant version of Taurasi is that of Mastroberardino.’ Founded in 1878, Mastroberardino became known for its work in identifying, preserving and championing local grape varieties. Belfrage observed that: ‘…one aspect of it concerns grapes. Rather than bring in volume varieties from elsewhere in Italy, as so many producers in the south have done, or experiment with fashionable French varieties, Mastroberardino has stuck with the ancient varieties of its homeland.’

It was this authenticity that struck a chord with producer Antonio Caggiano, whose focus in the early 1990s was on a change in the local viticulture. Traditionally, cultivation had been based on mixed crops of potatoes, cereals and vegetables. In the time-honoured Raggiera system, there were fewer vines, each producing large quantities of wine. The tall vines – up to 3.5m in height – also tended on occasion to produce varying levels of ripeness, depending on the height of the shoots.

The development of the cordon system led to an increase in planting density, with vines trained [on horizontal wires] closer to the ground. Better clones and substantially reduced yields helped to achieve more consistent ripening. These changes went hand in hand with more modern cellar practices such as rigorous grape selection, gentle extraction of tannins and barrel ageing aimed at reducing harshness and austerity. The changes have seen producers move away from the burly, macho wines of yesteryear towards much- improved wines. New practices being adopted in the vineyard include green harvesting to obtain a riper crop, and picking berries at physiological/ phenolic (rather than sugar) ripeness.

The result is that while some older wines suffer from ailments such as harshness, over-oaking and oxidation, more recent vintages are based on a better understanding of the vineyards and how best to manage the Aglianico grape itself, not to mention the introduction of experienced consultants such as Luca d’Attoma.

Add to your cellar: Taurasi to keep

While Aglianico Irpinia DOC and its sub-zone Campi Taurasini Irpinia DOC focus on fresh, juicy fruit characters for early drinking without necessarily seeing any oak, Taurasi DOCG satisfies demand for wines that can still be enjoyed relatively young but can also age well thanks to more weight and concentration. Taurasi DOCG Riserva’s concentration and structure of tannins and acidity demands evolution in the bottle for finesse and complexity. Ultimately, the ageability of Taurasi depends on the approach of the producer.

Rose’s top three for the cellar:

Quintodecimo, Taurasi Riserva 2017

Bocella Vini, Sant’Eustachio, Taurasi 2017

Mastroberardino, Radici Taurasi Riserva 2015

Building on tradition

Aglianico is the principal grape of the Taurasi DOCG – the jury is out as to the derivation of the name. Wine writers Burton Anderson and Belfrage both link Aglianico’s origins to the ‘Hellenic’ connection of Greece, but according to Wine Grapes (Robinson, Harding & Vouillamoz; Allen Lane), it more likely stems from the Spanish ‘llano’, meaning a plain. Either way, the allowance of 15% in the blend of other local red varieties – principally Piedirosso, Greco Nero and the ancient Sciascinoso – is the legacy of a heritage of old vines, the most venerable of which can reach an astonishing 200 years of age. This is not a stretching of the regulations to incorporate so-called ‘improving’ grape varieties, but rather a reflection of tradition.

Thanks to Aglianico’s thick skins and high acidity, which make the wines excellent candidates for long ageing, producers can hold out for full ripeness, with harvest usually not until late October and in some cases into November. According to Margherita Bozzacco, family member at producer Boccella Rosa: ‘One vintage involved picking the grapes after the snow had fallen at the beginning of November.’ Aglianico in Taurasi is one of the last harvests in all of Italy, and picking late in the year means that the grape can ripen slowly, reaching its unique quality of savoury maturity during a long, warm growing season. Its thick skins help to resist botrytis, which can threaten grapes following the rains that often come in September.

Impressions of Aglianico as a tannic or alcoholic grape variety are not necessarily entirely borne out. According to Milena Pepe of Cavalier Pepe, ‘producers used to add tannins in the past’. Certainly, Aglianico from Taurasi does produce aromatic, deep-coloured, richly flavoured wines – particularly when using the popular VCR 2 clone – in the spectrum of red and dark cherry, plum fruit and spicy, tarry, even chocolatey notes, sometimes not a million miles from Syrah.

When the fruit extraction is carried out well, its structure is based on ripe grapes with supple tannins underpinned by refreshing, saline acidity and supported by subtle oak maturation, often using a variety of sizes, origins and producers of cask to avoid overt oak flavours getting in the way of a wine’s typicity and site-specific character.

During my visit in the summer of 2022, the daytime temperature soared to 34°C, followed by cool evenings. This perfectly illustrates how swings in day and nighttime temperatures in these hills are a key part of the freshness of Taurasi, enabling the grapes to hold on to precious acidity and aromatic compounds.

Names to know: new talents

Balance, freshness, elegance and, above all, drinkability are the watchwords of the new generation of winemakers taking Taurasi to greater heights. Indeed, in the view of Dutch wine writer Paul Balke, who lives locally and hosted a Taurasi masterclass during my visit, the richness of its aromas and flavours as well as its intensity make Aglianico – along with Nebbiolo – Italy’s most prominent red grape variety.

Here are 12 young and cutting-edge producers to know: Barbot, Boccella Rosa, Boccella Vini, Giovanni Molettieri, Marianna Venuti, Michele Perillo, Salvatore Molettieri, Tenuta Cavalier Pepe, Tenuta del Meriggio, Tenuta Scuotto, Terredora and Urciuolo Vini.

Know your vintages: Taurasi

2018 Spring was mild and rainy, and the fruit set took place in good conditions, resulting in regular ripening and reds for short- to medium-term cellaring.

2017 Summer was the hottest and driest of the past 15 years. With higher than average day and night temperatures in July and August, the grapes were harvested in healthy condition, resulting in wines of excellent concentration.

2016 A mild winter and spring with a good fruit-set, then a hot summer and heavy rainfall followed by a sunny autumn. This allowed good ripening at harvest, producing concentrated, fragrant reds.

2015 A good year after a cool start, with a hot, dry summer followed by rain at harvest – but the grapes retained their sugar levels, so concentration and balance were good.

2014 A challenging vintage with a cool August and abundant rains, but a dry autumn at harvest with low yields saved the day for the reds.

2013 A very good year following rapid vegetative growth in spring, then lower temperatures and a delay in flowering, with cooler than average temperatures and a late harvest.

2012 A warm, dry summer and wide temperature range between day and night at harvest led to a good vintage of expressive reds with balance, softness and varietal expression.

A taste of Taurasi: Rose’s top 10 Aglianico buys

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One of the culture shocks visitors to Italy face is discovering that Italians don’t drink wine with pizza too often.

Matching pizza with wine seems rather obvious, yet when visiting historical establishments across the country you will always find fridges filled with beer.

Beer has long been the best-selling beverage in the Italian pizzerie – and that is mainly due to its affordability and successful marketing strategies pursued by industrial breweries.

However, the tradition of pairing wine with pizza predates the upsurge of beer sales in Italy and the rise of gourmet pizza is bringing this habit back to life – an ever-greater number of connoisseurs are matching wine with slow-leavening dough and high-quality ingredients. Wine lists in pizza restaurants are improving, too.

The origins of Italian pizza

Like many Italian classics, pizza was created to feed peasants and workers. In the 16th century, the Neapolitans started oven baking the flatbreads they had been eating since the Middle Ages.

In the following centuries, they developed more sophisticated procedures and began topping the preparation with tomato sauce and mozzarella.

Pizza surged in popularity after the unification in 1861. Named after Queen Margherita di Savoia, pizza Margherita became an emblem of the newly founded nation, mimicking the colours of the Italian flag with the above-mentioned ingredients plus basil.

However, before the 1960s few pizzerie existed north of Rome. If anything, chefs from the wealthier north contributed to the success of gourmet pizza. Veneto-born Simone Padoan was one of the first to propose complex toppings, elevating this preparation to an art form.

What is authentic Italian pizza?

Pizza Napoletana is a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) product, regulated under European law. The ‘Art of Neapolitan “Pizzaiuolo”’ is also included on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage.

The TSG means that authentic Pizza Napoletana can be made anywhere in the world, as long as it meets the requirements laid out by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (True Neapolitan Pizza Association):

The pizza must be obtained by rolling out a 200 to 280g dough ball by hand, topping it with tomato sauce, hard cheese, fior di latte or mozzarella, and basil (‘Margherita’), or tomato sauce, garlic, olive oil and oregano (‘Marinara’). Ingredients are recommended to come from the Campania region of Italy.

The pizza must be cooked in a wood-fired oven with a cooking surface temperature of 380-430°C for 60-90 seconds .

It must be no larger than 35cm in diameter, and should be thin (around 0.25cm), with a 1 to 2cm high ‘cornicione’, or crust. The cornicione should have a soft texture, with very few bubbles or burns.

Best Italian pizza and wine pairings

Scroll down to see Raffaele’s wine recommendations

Lighter wines are preferable with pizza, but every style has its match. The only general recommendation is to avoid big tannins and heavy oak imprinting.

Margherita

The quintessential Italian pizza may be the most challenging to pair with wine. Most whites are too lean to cope with the tomato sauce, and most reds too structured.

Dark rosé such as Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo represents the best compromise, possessing judicious acidity, light tannins and enough palate weight to withstand – and even empower – the ingredients.

Pizza fritta

The easiest pizza to pair with wine, fried Neapolitan pizza comes in different styles, ranging from Montanara (with tomato sauce and Parmigiano) to calzone (stuffed with meat and provola cheese).

All you need is a refreshing, high-acid wine: locals recommend Asprinio di Aversa, a white wine from an historical district in northern Campania.

Pizza with cold cuts

While Naples is the cradle of pizza tonda (thin-crust pizza), Rome is best-known for pizza al taglio (pizza by the slice), often topped or stuffed with salumi (cold cuts).

You cannot leave the eternal city without having tasted crunchy pizza Romana with mortadella, better if paired with bottle-fermented sparkling wine such as Franciacorta, the mousse of which resets the palate by dissolving the fats.

Capricciosa

Capricciosa boasts several ingredients, including tomato sauce, mozzarella, cooked prosciutto, artichokes, mushrooms and sometimes even boiled eggs.

Easygoing reds such as Piedirosso from the Campi Flegrei area near Naples work best in this case. Piedirosso balances the richness of the topping with its bracing salinity while refreshing the mouth with peppery and herbal flavours.

Diavola

Authentic Italian pizzerie don’t serve pepperoni pizza. Instead, they serve Diavola (‘devil’), the original spicy salami pizza.

Diavola pairs well with fruit-forward red wines such as unoaked Barbera, the plump red fruit appeasing the piquant flavours, while crisp acidity cleans the palate.

Boscaiola

The name Boscaiola derives from the Italian word for ‘woods’ and refers to a pizza with sausages, mushrooms and mozzarella.

This pizza pairs well with medium-bodied Tuscan reds, especially Morellino di Scansano from Maremma, which has enough acidity to counterbalance the sausage fat, along with velvety tannins that avoid clashing with the mushrooms.

Wine recommendations for Italian pizza

Where to eat great Italian pizza

L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele – Naples

‘The benchmark for the Neapolitan style,’ according to leading food critic Luciano Pignataro. Da Michele is a chain with multiple branches but the original, in Naples’ old town, only serves classic pizzas that are larger than the plate.

+39 081 553 9204

Pizzarium Bonci – Rome

The go-to place for top-notch pizza al taglio, located close to the Vatican Museums in Rome.

+39 06 3974 5416

Seu Pizza Illuminati – Rome

Rome’s best pizzeria according to the ‘50 Top Pizza’ guide offers a wide choice of classic and gourmet options. The wine list is excellent, too.

+39 06 588 3384

50 Kalò – Naples and London

Ciro Salvo relies on slow maturation and Slow Food presidium products to make light and flavourful Neapolitan pizza. The main restaurant is in Naples, but Salvo also runs a location in London. Both offer solid wine selections focusing on the Campania region.

Naples: +39 081 1920 4667

London: +44 20 7930 9955

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Top Campania white wines: Fiano & Greco

Away from the dazzling Amalfi coast, the archaeological hotspots of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Paestum, and the bright lights of Naples, visitors can find a quieter Campania.

Truffles, chestnut and olive trees and, of course, vines grow in a spectacular landscape of hills and mountains which contrasts with the coastal plain.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 20 top Campania white wines worth seeking out

The most important among an assortment of largely indigenous white grape varieties are undeniably Fiano and Greco. Found in wines throughout the region, as well as beyond Campania’s borders, these reach their apogee in the DOCGs of Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo, widely considered to be two of Italy’s finest white wine denominations.

Established as DOCs in 1978 and 1970 respectively, they were both recognised as DOCGs in 2003.

Located in Irpinia in the province of Avellino, about an hour’s drive northeast from Naples, the vineyards of predominantly clayey-calcareous soils with volcanic, sand and mineral deposits range in altitude from 250m to about 650m, while the surrounding mountains reach to 1,577m. This gives the grapes grown here an advantage in the form of large diurnal temperature variations (up to 20°C cooler at night in some locations), allowing for full ripening but preserving aromatics and acidity, aided by cool winds blowing in from the Tyrrhenian sea which also reduce disease pressure in the vineyards.

Complementary styles

Fiano di Avellino

Fiano di Avellino is the more accessible of the two wines; its elegant floral, mineral character is filled out with apple, pear and hazelnuts and vibrant acidity.

Drink as a vino da meditazione or pair with food: it’s remarkably versatile, but goes especially well with local specialities such as black truffle (Tartufo Nero di Bagnoli Irpino) shaved over egg pasta, or the world-famous pizza Napoletana topped with local San Marzano tomatoes and DOP Mozzarella di Bufala Campana.

Greco di Tufo

Greco di Tufo can be described as a ‘white wine with a red soul’, such is its weighty, sapid and often viscous character accompanied by rich and exotic scents. Its acidity is markedly higher than even Fiano di Avellino, and its phenolic structure is typically complemented by skin contact and lees ageing during production.

So while it’s possible to enjoy Greco di Tufo in its youth, it’s often wiser to wait at least a couple of years for it to gain some weight and balance. Alternatively, well-matched cuisine can tame young Greco di Tufo: try it with spaghetti al baccalà, a local tomato-based pasta dish with capers and salt cod, or with seared tongue of beef with fennel.

Annual production from Greco di Tufo’s eight permitted villages (636ha) was 3.56m bottles in 2020, while Fiano di Avellino’s 26 permitted villages (419ha) produced 2.06m bottles (source: Consorzio Tutela dei Vini d’Irpinia). Commonly matured on the lees in stainless steel tanks before additional time in bottle, a small proportion are matured in oak barrels and even amphorae.

Riserva

Both DOCGs have a Riserva category and these are well worth seeking out in many cases, as they tend to be made from a winery’s top plots with additional ageing (minimum of 12 months). Greco’s high acidity also makes it ideal for sparkling wine production, and the Greco di Tufo DOCG allows for spumante and spumante Riserva metodo classico variants.

See notes and scores for 20 top Campania white wines

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Today, the wine landscape of Italy is reaping the benefits of change. A new generation of winemakers are bringing energy and innovation to complement the knowledge and experience of their forebears.

So we thought it was time to highlight this reinvigorated Italy. Loosely inspired by the SuperTuscans – those wines that side-stepped Tuscan traditions and regulations five decades ago to forge a new path for quality-minded producers – our concept of the ‘new Super-Italian’ is to group together wines from across Italy that merit attention for their forward-looking, even groundbreaking philosophies.

These new Super-Italians are not only excellent wines in their own right, they represent the best that the future of Italian winemaking has to offer.

Scroll down to see our experts’ tasting notes and scores for 12 fantastic ‘Super-Italian’ wines

We asked four of our Italy experts to nominate three wines each from their respective regions of speciality. And the wines they chose certainly reflect the new, progressive Italy.

High-altitude and morning sun-facing vineyards are becoming increasingly important as a way to combat the ever-warming climate – indeed, the Brunello di Montalcino authorities have removed the region’s upper altitude limit of 600m, effective from the 2016 vintage.

Fungus-resistant ‘PIWI’ hybrid varieties are gaining traction too, especially in the cool northeast, to reduce pesticide usage and provide a gateway to organic farming. Indigenous varieties are championing terroir and sympathetic winemaking on a scale not seen before. Meet the new Super-Italians.

Introduction by James Button. 

Northwest – Michaela Morris

Escalating land costs in Barolo and Barbaresco combined with the changing climate have drawn attention to Nebbiolo’s lesser-known, cool alpine zones. These stretch from Valtellina in Lombardy all the way to the border with France and Switzerland, where the Valle d’Aosta is located, abutting Piedmont’s minuscule appellation of Carema. After years of abandonment due to the gruelling mountainous terrain, a dynamic new generation is slowly reversing this.

The same can be said of Alto Piemonte’s multiple denominations. Among these, Gattinara was thriving as long ago as the 1500s but fell into decline after its 19th-century apogee. It is now on the path to its former glory – helped by one of Italy’s most revered names, Roberto Conterno.

Beyond Nebbiolo, rare native grapes are enjoying a booming revival in the northwest. Simmering with potential, the once almost-extinct Timorasso stands out for its complex, ageworthy whites as exemplified by one young gun who has returned to his roots. Northwest Italy’s new Super-Italian trio represents a safeguarding of native grapes and precious terrain. They ally respect for tradition with modern expertise. What is new is old; what is old is new. Michaela Morris

Veneto & Northeast – Richard Baudains

‘Super-wines’ have that wow factor that makes you sit up and take notice; that special character that makes them memorable. But more than that, they each have a story that makes them stand out. It might be to do with a terroir, a grape or an inspirational winemaker, or often a combination of all three. Here are three such stories.

Col del Vent is a unique plot of ancient vines in Valdobbiadene that Nino Franco has rescued in order to affirm the individuality of terroir in the context of a wine – in this case, Prosecco, which is often perceived as a standardised, commercial product.

Kristian Keber from Collio, meanwhile, is one of the rising stars of natural wine – a horrendously inadequate term, but one with undeniable currency. He has given an already highly respected family winery a new dimension.

Finally, Thomas Niedermayr from Alto Adige is a pioneer of PIWI varieties, which represent the new frontier in organic viticulture. He has won over sceptics of the genre with wines of class and character. Richard Baudains

Tuscany & central Italy – Aldo Fiordelli

A renewed mindfulness has washed over several Italian regions stimulated by the threat of global warming and a market that is relentless in its quest for biodiversity. In this context, one can interpret the role of Pievalta – which lays claim to being, since 2008, the first certified biodynamic estate in Marche on the Adriatic coast – as ‘Super-Italian’. Its San Paolo Riserva Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore has already demonstrated its elegance and ability to age, and the latest vintage is the first to be partially fermented in oak.

If Super-Italian to you means ‘super-premium’, then the wise collector should add Tenuta di Biserno’s Lodovico to their cellar. This Cabernet Franc-based blend from Bibbona, just above Bolgheri, is made by Lodovico Antinori, founder of Ornellaia and Masseto. In Montalcino, the warming climate is redrawing some of the best plots. San Filippo’s Le Lucére is an elegant, fresh Brunello made with flair by Roberto Giannelli. It has consistently been one of the best wines within the appellation for the past four or five vintages. Aldo Fiordelli

South & islands – Susan Hulme MW

The term ‘Super-Italian’ conjures up a wine that has an extra magical factor – an excitement that stops you in your tracks. Such wines are grounded in a rich Italian viticultural tradition but deliver something that lifts them above their peers.

Southern Italy and its islands have a great potential to develop wines in this vein, due to their incredible wealth of indigenous grape varieties and their many old-vine heritage vineyards.

My three nominations from southern Italy are all exciting not just because they taste great and are supremely well made, but also because each represents a new, surprising twist on a strong local tradition: Mastroberardino’s Stilèma is an innovative new wine in a range of three from Campania’s most historical producer; Sardinia’s Siddùra puts an intriguing spin on Vermentino di Gallura; and Idda is a new Sicilian collaboration between two wine-producing giants, Gaja from Piedmont and Graci on Etna. Susan Hulme MW

See tasting notes and scores for 12 top Super-Italian wines:

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During harvest in 2017, Stephen Brook dined with Ray Signorello at his estate on Napa Valley‘s Silverado Trail. It was exceedingly hot that day, but neither of them imagined that just a few days later Signorello’s winery buildings would be reduced to ash by the fires that scorched Napa.

‘Fortunately, our vineyards survived. We plough between the rows, so there was no cover crop to catch alight and destroy the canopy above. Many of the vines are 35 years old, so irreplaceable. But it took two days before I was allowed back to the property. We crept in behind the CNN television crew, and only then could I assess the damage.

‘Everyone talks about building back better. Well, that’s what we decided to do. The new winery will be much bigger and so will the hospitality centre. And in the meantime we’re building wine caves into the hillside to give us more space. Gradually I’ll expand production, as we can still plant an additional five acres (2ha), but the growth won’t be dramatic. Signorello will still be a family estate producing about 5,000 cases each year.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of three vintages of Signorello’s Padrone

’There are changes to our production team too, I’ve hired Steve Matthiasson to advise on viticultural issues, and Celia Welch as our winemaking consultant. Both are highly respected in California. I’m looking for them to give more subtlety and refinement to our wines, and putting any hint of rusticity behind us. I’ve also trimmed down the range, although Padrone, our Bordeaux-style blend, remains the flagship wine. But Seta, a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, has been phased out, as has the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon.

‘The Estate Cab has been replaced by a blend called S. Mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, this is a blend of some estate-grown fruit with grapes purchased from top sites in Rutherford, Howell Mountain and elsewhere in Napa. The sites are slightly warmer than our estate vineyards, so the wine is a bit more lush and forward. It’s made in the same way as Padrone, and aged in 70% new oak. At half the price of Padrone, it offers good value, especially in the context of Napa Cabernets.

‘I’m aware that in the future fires will again ravage our vineyards and structures, but I’m not going to lose sleep over that. We’re doing all we can to minimise the risk: pushing back foliage, putting much of the new winery underground and installing the latest hi-tech fire prevention measures. Fires are certain to remain a fact of life in California, but there’s no way I’m going to abandon the family winery.’

Signorello: three vintages of top cuvée Padrone, and more…

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Piero Mastroberardino places a strong emphasis on history and tradition. His family’s centuries-old cellars are located at the northern end of the small town of Atripalda, just a few kilometres up the road from Avellino in the mountainous province of Irpinia, Campania.

‘The town grew up around the winery,’ explains Giuseppe Iannone from the Consorzio Vini d’Irpinia.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for nine Mastroberardino wines

Despite the weight of history on his shoulders, Piero – the 10th-generation president of the family-run Mastroberardino winery – does not seem at all stuck in a rut. He maintains the careful balance of tradition and innovation pioneered by his father, Antonio – the man responsible for elevating the estate’s wines to the pinnacle of Italian winemaking.

The early days

The cluster of stone buildings that make up Mastroberardino’s HQ are accessed via a metal gate directly on Via Manfredi, which runs through the town, and is immediately identifiable to passers by due to the large scroll-font ‘Mastroberardino’ signage on the roof .

It’s here that Piero shows me around the self-curated on-site museum. It’s crammed full of ancient vintages of the estate’s wines and reams and reams of official documents, letters, invoices, diary entries and ledgers – as well as photographs and the odd trinket – from the family’s earliest winemaking days through to its fall and rebirth in 1945.

Piero points out the changes when Mussolini’s fascist government came to power in the 1930s, with much stricter, centralised control, and he also shows me wartime documents stamped with the swastika. Both are chilling reminders of Europe’s darkest days and serve to emphasise the struggles witnessed by Piero’s forebearers.

Long before Mastroberardino could call itself the oldest continually-operating winery in Campania and one of the country’s pre-eminent producers, the museum tells the story of the family’s hard graft. It even features some darkly comic moments – such as when a ship carrying barrels of the estate’s wine was seized. Believing it to be bound for South America, Angelo Mastroberardino (Piero’s great-grandfather) boarded a cruise liner and spent the next few months chasing his own tail. It turned out the stolen ship had simply sailed down the coast of Italy. Luckily Angelo eventually got his wine back.

Mastroberardino’s history begins in the 1750s with Pietro di Berardino, a winemaker who was granted the title ‘Mastro’ (master craftsman) and prepended it to his name. He began to acquire land, as did his successors, and the museum proudly displays documents from the period recording these transactions, marked with the coat of arms of the ruling Bourbon kings. It wasn’t until 1878, however, that the company was officially registered with the Chamber of Commerce by Angelo.

Piero tells me that the estate was ahead of its time in developing export markets: he points out a letter from Michele (Angelo’s son; Piero’s grandfather) to his father, dated 19 June 1912 and stating that he would spend six months promoting the family’s wines in North America. More visits followed in subsequent years. South America, Germany and Scandinavia all became key export markets for Mastroberardino in the first decades of the 20th century.

Antonio Mastroberardino

Piero’s father, Antonio played a major part in restoring the fortunes not only of the family winery but of the Campania region itself, following socio-economic collapse at the end of the Second World War in 1945. The wine cellars – which had served as a bomb shelter during allied air-raids – are today decorated with paintings from renowned artists, painted directly onto the domed ceilings sitting weghtlessly above each junction of corridors. There’s a touch of the Vatican about it; a peaceful place for the barrels to rest which belies the chaos that the passages witnessed at the end of the war.

Read: Champagne during WW2: From vines to victory

The year 1945 was a watershed moment for the estate: the retreating Germans destroyed the estate’s precious barrels of wine and soon after, Michele passed away, leaving his son Antonio to assume control of the estate at just 18 years of age.

‘He started university in Naples and went on studying and running the family business at the same time,’ explains Piero. Antonio faced an uphill battle. Many export markets had been lost during the war and the vineyards were in a terrible state. After the ravages of Phylloxera in the 1930s, the remaining vines had then endured shelling, bombing and semi-abandoment as workers were conscripted to the army. ‘The Oenological School and scholars stated that the economic and market conditions required a change of crop from quality native varieties [Fiano, Greco, Aglianico] to Trebbiano and Sangiovese, [more productive varieties]’ says Piero.

At this time there was also a new interest in international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay but Antonio was adamant that the vineyards should be restored using the region’s traditional varieties of Greek and Roman origin, and so he began to replant his vineyards with Fiano, Greco and Aglianico, propagated from the few surviving vines. ‘My father put up a strenuous resistance by convincing local winemakers to follow the example of the Mastroberardino family in replanting the native varieties of our land, driven by the aim of not losing the enormous heritage of the wines of the past,’ says Piero.

Antonio’s legacy is one that carried the fortunes of the entire region on its shoulders. His efforts in researching the terroir and the traditional grapes that thrive there was bolstered by constant contact with winemakers in other regions and other countries, keeping him up to date with the latest technological advances and methods. He even undertook a specialisation at the University of Bordeaux, where he learned alternative winemaking techniques and cellaring solutions.

The winery flourished under Antonio, along with his brother Walter, and Mastroberardino was soon bottling over half of all of the region’s DOC wines. The estate’s Taurasi wines in particular, first produced in 1928, were by the 1960s gaining an international reputation that was firmly cemented with the release of the estate’s now-legendary 1968 Taurasi Riserva. It was in large part thanks to the reputation of Mastroberardino’s Taurasi wines that the denomination became Campania’s first DOCG in 1993.

In 1996, Mastroberardino became involved in a research project attempting to understand and recreate the wines of 1st century AD Pompeii, before the calamitous eruption of Vesuvius. The winery was authorised by the Italian government to plant Roman-era grape varieties and in 2001 produced the first wine, called Villa dei Misteri after the famous frescoed villa in the ancient town.

Elegance

After a dalliance with richer, fuller, concentrated styles in the early 2000s, as was the fashion, he today has a range of wines which fully express the terroir and his preference for traditional and low-intervention winemaking, demonstrating elegance and posessing impressive longevity.

This push for ultimate elegance is demonstrated in the recent introduction of the ‘Stilèma’ range, which aims to recall the estate’s ‘golden days’ of the 1950s to 1980s by creating expressive blends rather than singling out individual ‘cru’.

The white Stilèma wines see long lees ageing and partial oak maturation, while the Taurasi undergoes short maceration then long ageing in oak and bottle. Until just a few years ago, Aglianico had a reputation for formidable tannins and austere fruit but Piero and some other producers have tapped into a new, more accessible but no less complex style.

The Stilèma Taurasi 2015 is tobacco scented, earthy and sweet with wild berry elegance and velvety tannins, while a tank sample of the estate’s Stilèma Taurasi 2016 shows an almost Burgundian character of gamey red fruits and superb balance. This is the wine I returned to several times during dinner as it was so moreish and appealing, even at this early stage in its evolution.

Piero had big shoes to fill, but he’s done so with aplomb. As well as president of Mastroberardino, he is a professor of business management at the University of Naples and president of the Istituto Grandi Marchi – a prestigious group of 18 family-owned wineries from across Italy.

It’s the company that Mastroberardino keeps in this supergroup – Antinori, Ca ‘del Bosco, Col d’Orcia, Jermann, Lungarotti, Masi, Michele Chiarlo, Pio Cesare, Tasca d’Almerita, Tenuta San Guido and Umani Ronchi among them – that really gives an idea of the high esteem the winery is held in.

Tasting the Mastroberardino wines:

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Best Campania wines: 30 to try

SuperTuscans at 50

While the world of wine wonders how to resist climate change, Campania is re-emerging into the limelight thanks to its rustic history, its autochthonous varietals and the inclusion of hybrids (varietals originating from other areas).

If Italy is the home of biodiversity, Campania is its cradle.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for Aldo Fiordelli’s top 30 Campania wines

Of course, every region of the Italian peninsula has one or two representative indigenous grape varieties, for example Sangiovese and Vermentino in Tuscany; Corvina and Garganega in Veneto; Nebbiolo and Cortese in Piedmont.

This is obviously a simplified snapshot, omitting many ampelographic gems, but in Campania there are almost too many native grapes to name: Greco, Fiano, Falanghina, Biancolella, Ginestra, Caprettone, Pepella, Aglianico, Piedirosso, Pellagrello, Sciascinoso, Tintore, Fenile, Ripoli…

The truly remarkable thing is that all of these varietals are crucial here. Fenile, for instance, is early ripening, while Ripoli is late maturing; Ginestra is aromatic, while Pepella is spicy. This is perfectly demonstrated in some of Campania’s best wines, such as the extraordinary red blend from the Amalfi Coast – Marisa Cuomo’s Furore Rosso Riserva, Costa d’Amalfi 2017.

It’s an area better known for whites but its mineral-rich soils and dramatic day-to-night temperature variations allow for extraordinary phenolic ripeness, producing Aglianico and Piedirosso of rare complexity.

Biodiversity

Campania’s biodiversity takes on a concrete role as vintage conditions vary year by year: Greco, for example, soars in the hot years, while Fiano stands out in the cooler years. The region’s abundance of autochthonous varietals was the dominant theme that surfaced at the latest edition of Campania Stories, an annual appointment to showcase the region’s new vintages, held in September 2021 at the Campus Principe di Napoli Gastronomic University on the Amalfi Coast in Agerola, a striking location at 600 metres above sea level.

With its 26,000 hectares of vines, Campania represents 4% of total Italian vineyard cultivation.

The estimated value of wine produced in 2018 across the region was roughly €72 million – about 2.4% of the national total. While it’s opportune to note the charm of this artisanal dimension, we must also consider the difficulties of obtaining consistent data.

Annual hectolitre estimations differ considerably depending on whether you consult Istat, the national statistical institute, or Assoenologi, the association of Italian winemakers.

According to Istat, in 2018 (the most recent data available) Campania produced 1.37 millionhl, or 2.53% of the national total: an increase of 6% compared to the dry 2017 vintage, but still about 13% lower than the ten-year average. According to Assoenologi, 730,000hl of wine were produced in 2018, almost half the amount estimated by Istat. This variation could depend on the calculation of musts (as opposed to finished wine), suggests a source.

Also, according to Assoenologi, in 2019 and 2020 production rose to 778,000 hL while in 2017 it was 618,000hl. ‘The 2017 harvest certainly marked a change in the historical average of the harvests,’ explains a note from the association presided by Roberto Di Meo.

Campania’s scope

The distance from Campania’s northern border with Lazio – in the area of Galluccio and Roccamonfina – to the extreme south bordering Basilicata is about 300 kilometres; the same as the distance between Beaune and Châteauneuf du Pape. It is a varied landscape; the hilly and mountainous inland and lofty cliffs overlooking the Tyrrhenian coast are scattered with volcanoes and remnants of ancient calderas.

Vines in Campania benefit not only from coastal breezes but also the coolness that altitude brings. At the end of August, one might leave for the Amalfi Coast with a summer suitcase, only to find yourself shivering in the evenings at 600 metres above sea level. This is the most tangible sign of the extreme fragmentation of the region, challenging to understand yet beguiling nonetheless.

The Amalfi Coast, along with Campi Flegrei are two of Campania’s most underrated areas, but we shouldn’t forget the Sannio area to the northeast of the region, which makes up 40% of the vineyards of Campania.

Campi Flegrei on the coast west of Naples is one of Campania’s volcanic terroirs, along with Vesuvio on the other side of Naples and Irpinia further inland to the east. Campi Flegrei has a vast wooded area of 260 hectares, the former royal hunting reserve of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty, which today provides a welcome breath of fresh air and whose respiration proves fundamental to the surrounding viticultural activity, particularly – though not exclusively – in hot years.

The temperature range between night and day is increased by this green lung, as well as the proximity of the sea. Both factors are able to enhance the phenolic maturity of the grapes and their complexity.

Campania 2020 & 2019

After the dryness and heat of a vintage such as 2017, much of the volcanic soils of Campania returned to their natural state, lending complexity to the slighted 2018 vintage.

The 2019 and 2020 vintages in Campania are more regular and should be considered as ‘twins’: both experienced excellent climatic trends and produced almost identical quantities of grapes.

2020 registered moderate rainfalls, with temperatures slightly higher than usual up until the autumn and just a few windows between June and September when a sub-Saharan anticyclone has alternated with the Azzorre anticyclone.

30 of the best Campania wines to try:

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Lanson’s vintage Champagne is legendary among those in the know, highly prized for its scintillating finesse and exceptional longevity.

The house’s track record is long and distinguished, and many Champagne connoisseurs fondly remember the Red Label, as Lanson’s vintage cuvée was known in the 1960s and 1970s, packaged in a unique and distinctive bottle shape known as the ‘quille’.

Scroll down to see scores and tasting notes for 19 vintages of Lanson Vintage Collection

Vintage Collection: rare and iconic

There were five vintages released in this format—1964, 1966, 1969, 1971 and 1975 (there were some bottles of 1961 that were also transferred into the quille but that were originally made in regular bottles) – but after 1975, this was discontinued, partly due to unwanted connotations related to Johnnie Walker’s Red Label whisky.

The 1976, bottled in a normal champagne bottle, was labelled simply as a vintage brut, and this continued up until the 1989 vintage, which was the first to be called Gold Label, aligning with Lanson’s branding of other cuvées such as the Black Label brut and the Rose Label rosé. While this enjoyed great success, in 2020 Lanson rebranded its line-up once more, and the vintage cuvée is now labelled ‘Le Vintage’, beginning with the current release of 2009.

Since 2012, Lanson has also re-released older vintages under the label Collection. These are mostly in magnum, due to that format’s superior ageability, although some 75cl bottles are also available.

As of this writing, there are 13 vintages of Collection, from 1976 to 1999, and all are aged in the cellar sur pointe on their lees, with a limited number periodically disgorged to order, dosed at 3g/L.

Even rarer are vintages older than 1976, which are not technically part of the Collection program, but which can occasionally appear at auction, released directly from the house.

See all Decanter’s Champagne Lanson scores and tasting notes

In July 2021, I was invited by Lanson to taste a Collection retrospective, including a number of older vintages back to 1961, as well as a preview of a couple of future releases. These were all in magnum, and with the exception of the 1982, they were all disgorged within the last four years (the 2002 and 2004, which have not yet been released as Collection, were disgorged by hand the morning of the tasting).

Consistent elegance, trademark ageability

The cuvée has remained remarkably consistent over the past six decades: it’s almost equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with the latter usually in slightly higher proportion, and it’s principally from grand cru vineyards in the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims, although in the past it has also included some top premier crus such as Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Dizy or Trépail.

It’s made entirely without malolactic fermentation, a signature of the Lanson style, and besides imparting structure and vivacity, this seems to also bestow a certain finesse and clarity of flavour.

Its reputation for longevity is also well-deserved, as these tasting notes indicate, with all of the wines appearing vibrant, energetic and even youthful —keep in mind that these were all in magnum, and the same wines in 75cl bottles would likely also be enjoyable but different in character, even assuming perfect storage.

Disgorgement also has a role to play, although I am not of the opinion that the most recently disgorged versions are necessarily the best, and a number of these wines appeared to have benefited from some post-disgorgement age.

I would be quite pleased to find examples of older disgorgements, and I expect all of these wines to continue to enjoy a long and slow development in the cellar.

Champagne Lanson: 19 vintages of Vintage Collection

Wines are shown by vintage, in ascending order. Selected vintages are available in the UK from The Champagne Company.

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Elegance over power, complexity due to a longer growing season, and – most of the time – craftsmanship of characteristically low-volume wines, represents an irresistible mix for experienced wine consumers.

Add to this the story of ‘heroically grown’ vineyards – exclusively farmed by hand on steep slopes or in marginal climates – and the appeal of wines from high altitudes becomes even stronger, particularly from a marketing standpoint.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for Aldo Fiordelli’s pick of Italy’s high-altitude wines

However, compared to familiar terms such as ‘old vine’, ‘low yield’ or others that have become popular in the wine world, identifying which wines can be called ‘high altitude’ is considerably easier.

In Italy, there are several regions that produce wines at altitude: in the north, Valle d’Aosta, Alto Piemonte, Valtellina and Trentino-Alto Adige, with Tuscany in the centre, Campania to the south and the islands of Sardinia and Sicily.

Vineyards considered to be at altitude are those at more than 500m above sea level, according to the European Centre for Research, Environmental Sustainability and Advancement of Mountain Viticulture (CERVIM).

The higher the vineyard, the cooler the mesoclimate: for every 100m gained in altitude, the temperature drops by about 1°C.

This different temperature average brings longer growing seasons to the highest vineyards, improving the complexity of the wines and ensuring phenolic ripeness in red grapes. At the same time, hillside soils are typically shallow, vineyard vigour is relatively low and thus the quality of the grapes is typically regarded as higher.

Ups & downs

There are two crucial phenomena that occur at altitude. First, the longer growing season and increase in ultraviolet light intensity result in grapes with more phenols, which give more colour and concentration. Second, the so-called ‘thermal effect’ helps high vineyards avoid spring frost. This phenomenon, mostly observed in cool climates – the effect can be lessened if the air is even slightly warm – allows cold air to drain freely away at night, pushed out by warmer air rising from lower altitudes.

One disadvantage of growing at altitude is the risk of sunburned grapes. It’s not just Nebbiolo that is very sensitive – it is no coincidence that Cannonau (a local clone of Grenache) from Mamoiada in Sardinia as well as Nerello Mascalese from Etna in Sicily, both warm climates, are grown on shaded bush vines to protect the grapes from potentially harsh rays.

Soil erosion is also a threat at altitude, despite the implementation of mitigative measures such as dry stone wall terraces. ‘The terraces that represent the landscape of Mount Etna,’ says Salvo Foti of I Vignieri in Sicily, ‘have the fundamental role of containing volcanic sand, an inconsistent soil otherwise destined to f low to the valley f loor with abundant rainfalls.’

Another argument against altitude is the inconsistency of the harvests from year to year. Northern Italian regions such as Valtellina, Trentino-Alto Adige and the Valle d’Aosta, just below the Alps, are more prone to extreme weather events such as hailstorms.

Investing in altitude

In Alto Piemonte, at the foot of the Alps in the northeast of the Piedmont region, a lot of terraces were abandoned in the 1970s, when the arrival of machinery promised progress in the form of marked winemaking developments and less work in the vineyards.

The same happened on Mount Etna in Sicily, and also in Lamole, the highest village in the Chianti region. But things are changing. The Marzotto family, owners of the Santa Margherita wine group, purchased 15ha in Lamole in 1993, and now have 40ha spanning 350m-655m in altitude. ‘Over the past few years, we have invested €3m in new vineyards and structures, and another €3m in the restoration of old vineyards,’ says a source from the estate.

Today, the benefits of growing at altitude are being recognised, despite the hard and expensive manual labour required in the more demanding vineyards. Climate change is a key factor in the increased popularity of high-altitude sites.

Renowned Alto Adige producer Hofstätter has planted a vineyard of Pinot Noir at more than 1,000m. Slightly experimental at the moment, in the future it could become essential in order to counteract climate change: in the past 30 years, the temperature here has risen by 1°C, according to the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche di Trieste, and this is allowing better ripening of grapes in higher vineyards and improved balance at harvest, compared to vineyards at lower altitudes where the same warming can begin to cause problems with ripeness and the timings of picking.

Further south in Tuscany, in order to counteract the effects of global warming, Angelo Gaja says he has purchased 5.5ha close to Lume Spento Pass in Montalcino, at 550m-580m, with the aim of preserving the freshness and the elegant style of his Pieve Santa Restituta Brunello di Montalcino.

Mountain misconceptions

Excitement over these benefits sometimes risks compromising the definition of altitude itself, as more and more consumers seek out ‘high-altitude wines’ and producers eagerly slap the words onto labels. In the northeast, according to Trento’s chamber of commerce, there were 10,270ha of vineyards dedicated to wine-growing in 2017. Almost a third (32%) of these were planted at up to 200m above sea level; 39% between 201m-350m; 15% between 351m-500m; and only the remaining 14% above 500m.

Nevertheless, Trento DOC promotes its products as ‘sparkling wine from the mountains’. This definition seems to hold for outstanding wines such as Ferrari’s Giulio Ferrari Collezione, one of the greatest sparkling wines from Italy, which comes from a single vineyard called Maso Pianizza at 500m-600m above sea level.

Otherwise, however, the highest-altitude vineyards contain 78% of the region’s Müller-Thurgau (which is not permitted in the traditional-method Trento DOC sparkling), 31.8% of its Pinot Noir, 21.2% of its Schiava (also not permitted), and only 14% of its Chardonnay, which forms the base for its DOC sparkling wines (which must be made using Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Bianco or Meunier).

Hence, the proportion of vines at altitude being used for Trento’s ‘mountain’ sparkling wines is in reality minimal. During my last visit to the Ferrari estate, chief winemaker Marcello Lunelli told me that he and his team are investing in the Brenta valley, where this year they will plant 20ha at 700m.

Alto Adige is similarly misunderstood. Its simplistic image is of a region with the best sky-high vineyard areas in northern Italy, thus assumed to be cool climate.

Instead, and rather surprisingly, Bolzano’s temperatures match Florence as one of the hottest Italian towns during the summer. Thanks to its continental climate of cold winters and warm-to-hot summers, vineyard altitude here is more critical than anywhere else in the region. Valle Isarco is the highest wine-growing valley here, with vineyards at an elevation of about 400m-800m or higher, while the area near Caldaro lake, downat 216m, is one of the warmest in the region.

The steely character of whites from Valle Isarco can be compared with the lushness of Pinot Noir and Schiava wines from Caldaro lake.

Frozen north, cool south

To find truly mountainous wines, one must look to Valtellina, Carema and the Valle d’Aosta. In these regions, autumn easily registers overnight temperatures of about 0°C, and traditionally, the harvest is never undertaken before the middle of October. Given the conditions, achieving 12.5% alcohol was commonly considered a goal.

In Valtellina, Sassella is the highest sub-zone at 600m, while Grumello is below 500m and Inferno between 450m-550m. Climate change is improving the concentration of the wines, with alcohol levels reaching up to 14% for the Riserva bottlings.

There are very small, almost forgotten appellations here, such as the Chambave sub-zone in Valle d’Aosta, which produces soft red wines with a vinous character and intoxicating, fresh f loral aromas. The wines must contain a minimum of 70% Petit Rouge, with Dolcetto, Gamay and Pinot Noir making up the rest of the blend.

Though the combination of altitude and cool climate are a given for the northern regions, the same can also be said for the south. The vines of the Irpinia region of Campania easily reach 500m above sea level, with higher villages such as Castelfranci up to 650m. ‘Harvesting in November amplifies the climate effect,’ says Marco Tinessa, who produces Ognostro there. ‘So I preferred to explore both the lower and the higher altitudes in order to minimise the harvest variations.

For example, in the warm 2017 vintage, [fruit from the higher-altitude area of ] Vallicelli would help to maintain a fresher style of Aglianico, while in the cold and rainy 2018, the lower-altitude fruit helped.’

Island high life

On the warm, dry Mediterranean island of Sardinia, there is a village called Mamoiada, which was not easy to reach until the 1990s. Isolated and high in altitude – rising up to 900m – the Barbagia region was simply not safe, being controlled more by local brigands than the national government, despite the exceptional vineyards planted there.

However, as the importance of viticulture and tourism within Sardinia rose, along with some authoritative state intervention, the whole picture changed, and over the last 20 years the region has become more accessible: the people of Mamoiada are extremely welcoming, and the unspoiled environment is stunningly beautiful.

Here, Cannonau grows in the form of centenarian, bush-trained vines on extremely weak, sandy soil from decomposed granite. During the growing season rain has little impact, since water in the soil is drained away incredibly efficiently, giving the grapes exceptional concentration and complexity.

Combatting erosion

In Valtellina, in the far north of the Lombardy region close to the Swiss border, there are 2,500km of dry stone walls, according to the region’s wine consortium. Similar to Switzerland, the northern Rhône or the Douro in Portugal, this valley is one of the most terraced of all the world’s vineyard areas. Without these terraces, it would not be possible to grow vines on such steep slopes, given the soil erosion.

‘Here, the soil on the flatter plots is mostly sandy with a lot of drainage,’ explains Isabella Pelizzatti Perego, co-owner of ArPePe winery in Valtellina. ‘Growing at a higher altitude, [Valtellina Superiore DOCG sub-zone] Sassella is based on more rocky soils compared to the lower [sub-zone] Grumello, making wines nervier and more tannic.’

Valtellina is one of the most mountainous of all Italian regions, but measures to mitigate soil erosion aren’t always successful. ‘In the 2014 vintage we lost more than 10 dry stone walls due to rainfall, causing estimated damage of €50,000,’ adds Perego. Soil at altitude can become a limiting factor if it’s too shallow, as is often seen in the grands crus of Burgundy or some of the best MGA designated vineyards of Barolo.

Giuseppe Sedilesu and Giovanni Montisci are two producers to look out for, while along the SP22 road towards Orgosolo, Peppino Musina from Cantina Orgosa produces an authentic Sardinian blend of indigenous grapes based on Cannonau: the not-to-be-missed Nero di Orgosa.

The extremity of nature can also be tasted on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily. The red grape Nerello Mascalese is quintessentially indigenous to Etna with its solar Mediterranean elegance and smoky minerality. The northern valley of the active volcano is considered today to be Etna’s top area for single vineyards, which are called ‘contrada’ here. Frank Cornelissen has been working on Etna since 2001 with minimum intervention in order to preserve the balance of his old vineyards as much as possible.

The old bush vines have extremely low yields of 300g-600g per vine. ‘We harvest relatively late, in search of perfect phenolic ripeness, starting mid-October to early November, employing multiple passes through the vineyards to obtain dense and profound wines,’ Cornelissen explains.

Density and depth are two of the main qualities of Nerello Mascalese. Altitude here is essential for cooling the grapes, and to aid in aligning the phenolic and technical ripeness, giving wines the structure for ageing without stunting freshness of fruit or elegance.

Signature characteristics

Indeed, elegance and complexity are two of the main banners for wines at altitude. In my view, in southern Italy you can find concentration and power without compromising finesse, while in the cooler climates of the north, the wines tend to appear a bit leaner, totally focused on elegance. At times, the acidity of these wines can seem to be quite firm and upfront on the palate – a signature of altitude, if you will – and they often have a floral touch.

However, freshness of fruit and the overall grace of perfectly integrated structures – each an essential element for the long haul – are among the other gems to look for in wines grown at high altitude.

High praise: Aldo Fiordelli’s pick of Italy’s high-altitude wines

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Southern Italy: The 12 native grapes to know about

There is a variety of red fig from the Irpinian village of San Mango sul Calore, one that is an autumnal delicacy. It is late ripening compared to other figs, which tend to be consumed across the Mediterranean in July and August.

But Irpinia – a sub-region of Campania in southern Italy located 400m-700m above sea level, with 1,300mm of rainfall per year – has a climate that can be defined as ‘mountain Mediterranean’. It explains just how much the altitude influences agriculture and viticulture: grapes as well as figs are late ripening.

Scroll down to see Aldo Fiordelli’s tasting notes and scores for 30 top wines from Campania

Here, in the warm 2020 vintage, the Aglianico grape started veraison (the beginning of the ripening process) around 2 September – more than one month later than most red varieties planted across Italy. The harvest typically lasts through to the middle of November, and at times even longer.

Aglianico has one of the longest growing seasons, stretching far beyond the 100-day norm. It is just one of the 35-40 indigenous grapes planted throughout the region – a single but significant example of the originality of Campania – alongside Falanghina, Fiano and Greco, and lesser-known Casavecchia, Ginestra, Pallagrello, Piedirosso, Ripoli and more.

The region harbours a fascinating identity which encapsulates a variety of climates, grapes and styles produced in small volumes, offering wine consumers an unmatched opportunity.

According to Italian agricultural agency AGEA’s SIAN database, in 2018 Campania produced just 2.53% of Italian wine.

It is ‘a thumbnail of Italian viticulture’, as journalist Luciano Pignataro suggested while speaking at Campania Stories, held in September 2020 at the archaeological site of Paestum in Salerno.

This relatively new annual event brings together industry professionals and producers to explore trends, exchange thoughts, visit different appellations and taste new releases – all to get a closer look at the ‘thumbnail’ of Italy that Campania provides.

Vintages: delving deeper

The 2019 vintage began with a moderate winter, as has become common in the last few years, and a cool, rainy spring that curbed vegetative growth.

Flowering started 10-15 days later, and the fruit-set was irregular, with a lot of millerandage. The summer was more archetypal, with windows of hot sub-Saharan temperatures intertwined with Azores anticyclones. It was completely dry with the exception of some beneficial rainfall in the final days of July.

The autumn was warm, above average, with cool nights favouring the phenolic ripeness of red grapes. The harvest started more or less on time, just one week later than usual.

All in all, it was a very good vintage, yet with yields 20% lower than 2018. The 2018 vintage produced fresh, enjoyable wines, less concentrated than in 2019. White Falanghina was penalised by this lighter vintage, as was Greco, which made firm wines in more than one case. Fiano performed well in both vintages, developing more richness in 2019. Falanghina recovered a bit of concentration in warmer areas such as Sannio, Cilento and the inland of Salerno, whereas Fiano tended to get a bit soft and exotic.

In Irpinia, 2019’s warmth was definitely more beneficial for the aggressive acidity of Greco, giving it more balance sooner, whereas the region’s cooler conditions in 2018 resulted in more tension and greater balance, allowing for superior quality on the overall spectrum. In my opinion, Greco and Fiano are too often slightly phenolic, which can be helpful for ageing but not as promising for elegance.

Ageing gracefully

All of the whites tasted at this year’s Campania Stories had benefited from longer bottle ageing, considering the event was held in September instead of April due to the lockdown. This suggests that these wines are worth holding on to, with the aim of refining their structure and increasing their aromatic complexity.

In terms of red wines built for the long haul, such as Taurasi, the latest vintages presented were the warm and fat 2015 and the 2016, characterised by drastically lower yields due to spring frost. Feudi di San Gregorio steadily remains the area’s leading producer.

Estate chairman Antonio Capaldo and winemaker Pierpaolo Sirch are working on a detailed map of their crus within Irpinia, bottling single vineyards under the Feudi Studi label.

Castelfranci and Montemarano are two of the top areas producing wines for the long haul, demonstrated by Feudi, Cantine Delite, Canonico & Santoli and Villa Raiano. In comparison, Aglianico from the village of Taurasi to the northwest tends to be more approachable. Villages such as Paternopoli and Luogosano produce Taurasi wines that sit in the middle of these two extremes.

Grape progress

Aglianico is at the centre of an intriguing style revitalisation, a winemaking revolution of sorts. A few years ago it was nearly impossible to drink young Aglianico, whereas at the September event I enjoyed some delicious 2018s, thanks to the combination of lighter extraction and a more approachable vintage.

In the past few years, the crunchy style of noted producers such as Giovanni Ascione (Nanni Copè) has established a different way to tame the mechanical bull ride that is the Aglianico grape, as have producers such as Barbot in Irpinia and Galardi in Alto Casertano. A lighter and more fruit-forward style is exemplified by the fresh 2014 vintage, now ready to drink. Top examples here are Perillo and Cavalier Pepe.

However, with respect to Aglianico, there are other red grapes deserving of a closer look too, among them Piedirosso. Often considered an easy-drinking wine for mass marketing, Piedirosso is a gem for lovers of lighter-bodied, Pinot Noir-esque wines, its old vines capable of producing great results and varying styles. There is a huge difference between the coloured, concentrated Piedirosso from Taburno and that of Campi Flegrei’s flat sandy soils.

In Campi Flegrei, for example, Cantine del Mare produces a stunning Piedirosso full of smoky minerality and a distinct iodine character. Such discoveries summarise the charm of Campania: a region that’s not easy to understand, often varied in terms of styles and, fortunately, far from conventional, where a pioneering spirit is alive and well.

Fiordelli’s top 30 wines from Campania

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In the 1920s, the Irpinia region in Campania was the third-biggest wine producer in Italy by volume. Today, it barely registers on the chart in 40th position.

The decline in production over the course of the 20th century can largely be put down to three factors: the late arrival of Phylloxera, post-war poverty, and major earthquakes in 1930 and 1980. As many left the countryside or sought other forms of income following the devastation of their vines, production drastically decreased.

Happily, Irpinia is in a much better place today, yet it still produces just a fraction of what it used to. The establishment in the 1970s of the region’s three DOCs, later to become DOCGs, of Taurasi, Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino had coincided with the first large-scale surveys of Irpinia’s terroir.

Feudi di San Gregorio Taurasi vertical

Feudi San Gregorio quietly initiated the ‘FeudiStudi’ project 20 years ago, believing it was time to re-evaluate these initial findings and research in more depth individual site characteristics.

With the help of growers across Irpinia, Feudi San Gregorio has surveyed thousands of plots across 700 vineyard sites. The results are to be released in a new two-volume book, ‘FeudiStudi: Irpinia’s Wines and Vineyards’.

Best read with a glass of Taurasi in your hand over a few evenings, the first volume gives an overview of the region. The much longer second volume takes the reader through the Taurasi and Irpinia Campi Taurasini areas, sector by sector, commune by commune, identifying the most characterful sites and recording important details including soil, exposure, altitude and size. A useful reference, for sure.

The aim is to demonstrate the sites producing above-average fruit as well as the wines most expressive of their terroir throughout the appellation, not just at Feudi San Gregorio. In this respect, it’s reminiscent of the groundbreaking work by Alessandro Masnaghetti in Barolo and Barbaresco.

During a recent virtual tasting with director Antonio Capaldo and head of production, Pierpaulo Sirch, Capaldo pointed out that traditionally the estate has blended its various parcels, which he put down to ‘simplification for commercial reasons’. He cited other producers’ ‘great crus’ and ‘consumers’ increasing awareness of terroir as drivers behind the FeudiStudi project. The project, led by Capaldo, Sirch, and journalist Paolo De Cristofaro, has resulted in the annual release since 2011 of a small number of plot-specific Aglianico wines from the Taurasi DOCG – the subjects of the tasting – as well as Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino.

Irpinia

Situated inland from Naples, on a plateau surrounded by mountains, Irpinia doesn’t experience a typical Mediterranean climate.

It rains for an average of 150 days of the year, with levels of rainfall more in line with the northern regions of Italy. The accumulation of water running down from the mountains has formed rivers and lakes that create a humid environment. Aglianico forms compact bunches of medium to small berries. Combined with not especially thick skins and the high humidity environment, the grapes are susceptible to diseases such as oidium and botrytis. Traditional pergola training lifts the vines away from moisture on the ground and exposes the tight bunches to airflow. Aglianico is a vigorous variety and it requires a lot of work during the growing season to ensure the health of the grapes and keep excessive growth under control.

Temperatures rarely exceed 30C, with the average summertime temperature hovering in the mid- to high-20s. By September, diurnal temperature variations can reach a significant 20C difference between day and night, which helps the grapes to retain aromatic compounds and acidity.

An increase in average temperatures in recent years has helped the Aglianico grapes reach full ripeness earlier than in the past. This has been aided by the gradual replacement in vineyards of pergola-trained vines for densely planted, espalier-trained, earlier ripening clones. Despite this, the Aglianico harvest in Irpinia takes place from mid-October through to early- or mid-November, making it one of the last grape harvests in Europe to be completed every year.

The FeudiStudi wines

The two best Aglianico sites identified from the Feudi vineyards have been bottled annually since 2011 in small numbers: Rosamilia and Candriano. Both sites are in the commune of Castelfranci in the southeastern zone of the DOCG, covering around 89ha. Close to the Picentini mountains, it is cooler, wetter and windier here than in any other part of the DOCG. Altitudes range from 374 to 725 metres above sea level. The main hillside the vines are planted on faces west towards the Calore Valley, which forms the western border of the commune. It is possible to find an abundance of ancient vines in this part of the Taurasi DOCG, a clone known as ‘horse’s tail’ which features looser bunches of small berries extremely rich in anthocyanins and tannins

Rosamilia (0.46ha)

• In the vineyard of Vallicelli (100ha) towards the north of the commune of Castelfranci
• 645-658 metres above sea level on a gentle slope
• The highest of all Feudi San Gregorio’s sites
• Clay-chalk
• 60-year-old vines, radial trained
• Western exposure
• Typified by high acidity and less obviously rich, more feminine in character

Candriano (0.61ha)

• In the vineyard of Baiano (225ha) towards the south of the commune of Castelfranci. Baiano is divided into Baiano Alto and Baiano Basso. Candriano is located in Baiano Alto
• The last area to be harvested
• 598-633 metres above sea level
• Clay mixed with marine sand and limestone fragments
• 18-23-year-old vines, mainly espalier trained – typified by its minerality and saline elements and dense tannins
• Southwest exposure
• Typified by a darker, denser style

In the winery, both wines are treated the same in order to highlight the differences in terroir; they mature for 12-18 months in 20hL French oak barrels and small Slavonian oak barriques, then spend a further 24 to 36 months in bottle before release.

Tasting the FeudiStudi Taurasis:

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The Campania region, encompassing the Amalfi Coast, the Bay of Naples and the volcano of Mount Vesuvius, has an extraordinary history of winemaking. Ancient Greek settlers bought vines to Italy when they began populating the south of the country in the 8th century BC. The Romans later embraced this vinous culture, and it was Falernian – from Campania’s modern-day Falerno del Massico DOC – that was their most prized wine.

Today, Campania is a hotbed of indigenous varieties under various DOC guises, but the region’s three DOCGs are all clustered together in inland Irpinia, close to the Apennine Mountains.

The Taurasi DOCG produces some excellent reds made from Aglianico, while the Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino DOCGs just west and southwest of Taurasi respectively produce some of Italy’s standout white wines.

Irpinia

Irpinia sits on a plateau rising up to 700 metres above sea level in the foothills of the Apennine Mountains, providing a drastically contrasting climate to the warmer coastal zones of Campania. Temperature differences between day and night are wide, ensuring a long, even ripening and the retention of acids in the grapes.

Spring frosts are a constant threat, and autumn rain can disrupt harvest, which is typically not undertaken until October or November.

The soils are a mix of limestone, clay and volcanic, and some areas also have large deposits of sulphur.

Taurasi

The Taurasi DOCG covers 450ha under vine. Established as a DOC in 1970 and promoted to DOCG in 1993, the area varies in height from 300 to 650 metres above sea level.

The wines produced here must be at least 85% Aglianico, with up to 15% other local red varieties. They must be aged for a minimum of 36 months (48 months for Riservas), of which 12 months (18 months for Riservas) must be spent in barrel.

Taurasi wines are traditionally renowned for their longevity, although many producers produce earlier-drinking wines by utlilising pumping-over and racking to minimise the naturally reductive nature of the variety.

Greco di Tufo

Around 640ha are under vine in the Greco di Tufo DOCG. As the name suggests, the wine made here is the Greco variety grown on tufo (volcanic soil). It was designated a DOC in 1970 and promoted to DOCG in 2003.

Greco thrives in this elevated DOCG ranging from 300 to 600m above seal level, far away from the humidity of the coast where its tight clusters of grapes are prone to rot and downy mildew – although the presence of the Sabato River which divides the Greco di Tufo area means there is still some risk to grapes grown here.

As well as the still white wines it is famous for (min. 85% Greco & up to 15% Coda di Volpe), the DOCG also produces traditional-method sparkling wine with the same varietal requirements and aged for a minimum of 36 months on the lees.

Fiano di Avellino

The Fiano di Avellino DOCG has 411ha under vine. A DOC since 1978, it was promoted to DOCG in 2003. The area ranges in height from 400 to 700m above sea level.

Its wines must be a minimum of 85% Fiano, with the remainder made up of Coda di Volpe, Greco or Trebbiano.

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A blend of wealthy bidders and ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ deals helped the Naples Winter Wine Festival 2020 in Florida set a new live auction record last weekend.

More than $20m was raised from 61 lots auctioned at the event, held at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, said organisers.

Top lot was a week-long, private Mediterranean cruise aboard a 201-foot super yacht for five couples, which fetched just over $1m.  

All proceeds from the auction will go to the Naples Children and Education Foundation, a charity which supports at-risk and underprivileged children in Florida’s Collier County. 

Some of the world’s best-known winemakers and vineyard owners flew in to attend one of the biggest events in the high society calendar in the US.

Saskia de Rothschild, who took the reins at Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) in 2018, was the honoured vintner at this year’s event, with Sarah Grueneberg, of Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio in Chicago, the honoured chef.

Château Lafite Rothschild featured among the wine highlights from the live auction.  

An opportunity for 20 guests to dine at the renowned Bleu Provence restaurant in Naples accompanied by the 2000 vintages of all five Bordeaux first growths – Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Mouton Rothschild and Haut-Brion – sold for $360,000, according to a results list published by Naples Daily News. 

The lot was created to celebrate 20 years of the NCEF, organisers said.

Another top wine lot came from highly regarded Domaine Serene in Oregon and sold for $180,000. 

It included a four-night stay at its Winery Hill House for two couples, plus dinners and tastings across Willamette Valley and the chance to take ownership of a barrel of Pinot Noir in the winery’s cellars; equivalent to offering each couple 24 75cl bottles. 

Grace Evenstad, owner of Domaine Serene alongside her husband, Ken, is a lifetime trustee of the Naples event and the winery is a regular donor of experiences and wines.

Some auction lots combined fine wine with other passions. For example, a ‘Gargiulo Vineyards 20th anniversary’ package for two couples offered a ‘Naples to Napa’ experience, selling for $400,000. 

This included a three-night musical trip to Nashville, as well as four nights in Napa to attend the Gargiulo Vineyards annual harvest party. 

The couples also get a dinner for 24 people at Richard D’Amico’s restaurant in Naples and, separately, three magnums of Gargiulo’s 20th anniversary, special-edition Cabernet Sauvignon – after it’s release – and three further double magnums of Gargiulo Cab. 

Beyond wine, headline lots included $520,000 for four couples to spend five nights in a new, luxury villa at Cuvée on Caribbean island St-Barths.

The package included a private cooking lesson at Eden Rock’s prestigious culinary school and an in-villa dinner prepared by Cuvée’s private chef. 

There was also an online-only auction, which ran until 28 January.

Since its inception in 2001, the Naples Winter Wine Festival has raised more than $212m.

Celebrity guests this year included Kool & The Gang, television personality Judge Judy and PGA golfer Greg Norman. 

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Our report on the Hospices de Beaune 2019 auction 

The places to eat, drink and stay....

Restaurants

Hostaria di Bacco

Situated over the road from Marisa Cuomo winery in Furore – and run by the same family – this restaurant offers sea views and well-cooked local dishes. It’s also an affordable hotel.

Il Faro di Capo d’Orso

The fine-dining restaurant at the Capo d’Orso hotel offers the most spectacular setting for lunch or dinner.

Pasticceria Pansa

Located in the central piazza of Amalfi, below the cathedral, this is the chic place for coffee with Neapolitan pastries, people watching and irresistible Amalfi lemon and orange peel dipped in chocolate.

Tenuta Vannulo

Watch the mozzarella being pulled at Tenuta Vannulo, where the Palmieri family has long been in the vanguard. On its model organic farm the buffalo choose when to be milked and get their backs scratched. Don’t miss the buffalo-milk ice cream and brioches, or the dairy’s recently added restaurant.

See also: Coastal Campania for wine lovers

Accommodation

Hotel Parsifal

Located in a 13th-century cloister in the town of Ravello, with very pretty gardens and the advantage of being able to walk everywhere in town.

Il San Pietro di Positano

This greatest of privately owned hotels has a panoramic restaurant, local food, top wines, terraced vegetable gardens and one of the most avant-garde kitchens in the world, for a truly memorable taste of the finest the Costiera can offer.

Lloyd’s Baia Hotel

This classic, large seaside hotel is built on the rocks above the sea and is well positioned between the two Campanian wine coasts: the Salerno-Cilento and the Amalfi. Nicely detailed and good value.

Hotel Raito

This luxury hotel sits surrounded by vineyards and the typical gardens of the Amalfi Coast. Wake up and take breakfast in bed overlooking the sea.

Shops and Leisure

Approdo Spa

If you need to relax after all the eating and drinking, this stunning spa on the Cilento coast uses sea water in many of its therapies.

La Tradizione

On the main road at Seiano near Vico Equense. Artisan Campanian cheeses and salumi, plus a great selection of local wines and oils. Also serves lunch, dinner and the best panini.

Ceramica Artistica Solimene

The source of the hand-painted ceramics and tiles that adorn every room and garden along the coast. The striking 1950s Solimene factory is in itself a monument – and it sells dishes and more at discount prices.

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Including the stunning Amalfi coast and Sorrento peninsula, Campania’s coastline offers wine lovers the chance to discover local vineyards and native grapes during a sunny and relaxed seaside holiday. Carla Capalbo shares her highlights...

It’s a brilliant summer’s day and I’m standing in the dappled shade of a giant arbour as intricate as a spider’s web. With gnarled branches that extend as far as the eye can see, this unique pergola has been created by ancient grapevines, some of which are more than 400 years old. They’re still producing abundantly today.

I’m 300m above the Mediterranean at Tramonti – the name means both ‘between the mountains’ and ‘sunsets’. It’s reached by winding roads that climb from the Amalfi Coast via Ravello or Maiori.

On the northern side of this pass, named the Valico di Chiunzi, is Mt Vesuvius. It’s mainland Europe’s only active volcano, and is happily now dormant.

‘This has always been an important area for wine production,’ explains Gaetano Bove, who runs the estate of Tenuta San Francesco, with its historic vineyard. ‘After all, Pompeii was the Las Vegas of ancient Rome, a holiday place where people only worked half-days and focused on sex, food and wine.

‘Tramonti’s wine supplied the local area and was also exported when Amalfi ruled the waves from the 9th to 11th centuries.’

There are geological reasons for this longevity. The Monti Lattari – or ‘milky mountains’ – were among the first to appear out of the Mediterranean, even before the volcanoes. Their soils include layers of pumice, the light volcanic rock that floats on water. ‘Pumice brings minerals to the roots of the vines and traps humidity that releases slowly during summer,’ Bove says.

The vineyards here are host to many rare native grape varieties that may give us an inkling of what these wines of the past were made of. They include whites such as Biancolella, Falanghina, Fenile, Fiano, Ginestra and Ripoli; and reds Aglianico, Piedirosso, Sciscinoso, Tintore and Tintora. The tenuta also offers visitors home-cooked meals and wine tastings in its cellars.

See also: Coastal Campania – where to eat and drink

Beside the sea

The central coastal section of Campania that stretches from the Sorrento peninsula and Amalfi coast to the northern Cilento hills is now home to an exciting array of wines, with many new wineries launching in the wake of a handful of early pioneers. For the sake of this article it begins in the province of Naples, but the lion’s share is in the large province of Salerno. (There are coastal wines north of Naples too, but that’s for another time!)

The central coast divides naturally into two distinct zones. If the former is played out along the breathtaking but tortuous and rocky hills of the Monti Lattari, the second stretches south from the gentle slopes of the Monti Picentini, past the Greek temples of Paestum, to the soft hills of the Cilento, whose olive groves and vineyards could easily be mistaken for parts of Tuscany. The Bay of Salerno, with its imposing port-city, divides the two.

If the two areas are geologically diverse, so are their winemaking histories. Heroic viticulture has always been practised in steep terraced vineyards at Tramonti and elsewhere along the Amalfi coast, high above the panoramic road that so appeals to its millions of visitors. As elsewhere in Italy, every family had a few rows of vines among their fig trees and vegetables, but didn’t bottle their wine.

On the map

The award-winning Fiorduva – made by Marisa Cuomo from native white grapes and aged in barriques – changed all that, bringing international attention to the area and its potential. Giuseppe Apicella, the Reale family and Ettore Sammarco at Ravello were other early bottlers of the Costa d’Amalfi DOC. All continue to make fascinating wines and are well worth visiting.

I’m impressed too by some of the recent estates to open in the coastal heights. With fabulous views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, Abbazia di Crapolla is situated above the town of Vico Equense. ‘The first mentions of wines here are from 1520 when the monastery produced it,’ says Fulvio Alifano, who has tastefully restored the former Benedictine abbey’s grange for visitors, and makes wines from a late-ripening variety called Uva di Sabato, as well as newly planted Pinot Nero.

On the second, more easterly coast, the story is different. The Picentini and Cilento hills had no recognisable wine history of their own – even if many families produced a little wine for home consumption. If anything, vineyards there were used for cultivating the Barbera and Sangiovese that could be sold as bulk wine to northern regions seeking southern warmth to enrich their wines.

New wave

That lack of history has enabled a modern revolution, started successfully by Silvia Imparato at Montevetrano, who brought French sophistication to Campanian wines in the 1990s. Other pioneers of the area, such as Bruno de Concilliis and Luigi Maffini are still inspiring future generations.

‘There’s a nouvelle vague of Campanian wines being influenced by the sea,’ says Fortunato Sebastiano, a consultant winemaker from Campania who works throughout the region. ‘There’s a big difference between the coastal wines of the Cilento and those of the hinterland of Avellino province to its north, which boasts a long history of three important DOCG wines – Fiano, Greco di Tufo and Aglianico for Taurasi. If the Avellino wines have been restrained by their history, the Cilento’s have been freed by their lack of any. They are Italy’s New World.’

The climates of the two areas are also very different, from the cooler north to the hotter south.

Today’s adventurous wine lover can explore up-and-coming wineries working with biodynamics, clay amphorae and unusual rare native grapes such as Aglianicone and Santa Sofia.

Visiting wineries on these coasts is the perfect complement to a seaside holiday, so get your maps out and aim for the spring or autumn if you want to stay far from the madding crowds.

My perfect day in Coastal Campania

Morning

After breakfast in bed overlooking the sea at Hotel Raito, it’s a short drive to the Ceramica Artistica Solimene ceramics shop in Vietri sul Mare, to stock up on colourful, hand-painted plates. From there it’s less than an hour’s drive beyond Salerno to the more rural hinterland of the Monti Picentini. Here the organic winery Lunarossa has introduced traditional, locally produced clay pots known as quartare for some of its winemaking. Nearby Casa di Baal offers a more bucolic visit. Francesca Salerno and family are second-generation viticulturists working biodynamically in vineyard and farm.

Lunch

Drive south down the flat Sele Valley to arrive in Capaccio before noon, so you can watch the mozzarella being pulled at Tenuta Vannulo, where the Palmieri family has long been in the vanguard. On its model organic farm the buffalo choose when to be milked and get their backs scratched. Don’t miss the buffalo-milk ice cream and brioches, or the dairy’s recently added restaurant. Walk off lunch with a stroll among the magnificent Greek temples of Paestum nearby – Goethe declared that it wasn’t worth going as far as Sicily for Greek temples after he saw these. A little further south, the Cilento hills rise along the coast. Near Agropoli, visit Casebianche, the organic winery of two architects, where three sparkling pétillant naturel wines are currently turning heads. The estate includes olive groves, white figs, wheat and citrus fruit – and it’s lovely to sample the wines in the homely atmosphere of the family’s dining room.

Evening

Drive back up the coast near Vietri sul Mare for dinner and a walk through the picture-postcard vineyards and pretty lemon groves of Le Vigne di Raito, where you can finish the day as you began, with a delicious meal overlooking the sea.

Carla Capalbo is an award-winning food, wine and travel writer. Her books include The Food and Wine Guide to Naples and Campania. This guide first appeared in the February 2019 issue of Decanter.

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From new-wave Aglianico to pale rosé and the re-emergence of indigenous grape varieties, there's a lot happening in Campania, says Aldo Fiordelli. Read his report below, including wines to look for...

Campania wines have a charm that belies the relatively small size of this southern Italian vineyard region.

According to Italy’s national statistics agency, Istat, Campania makes up just 3.3% of Italy’s vineyards, with roughly 29,000ha planted.

Scroll down to see Aldo’s top wines from Campania

Aglianico is the most widely planted grape variety here, known for producing powerful yet charismatic red wines. It is followed by Falanghina, a grape known for yielding delicious and refreshing white wines, as well as the better known Greco and Fiano varieties, whose wines are able to age.

However, the true wonders of Campania are found in a crowd of indigenous grapes from Roman times:

• Pallagrello from Volturno
• Piedirosso and Caprettone around Vesuvio
• Biancolella on the island of Ischia
• Ripoli, Fenile and Ginestra along the Amalfi Coast

Regional variation: From mountains to coast

Campania may lie at the heart of the Mediterranean, but there are few places with as much variety in terms of landscape and climate.

Irpinia

The most misleading region is arguably Irpinia. One expecting the classic components of Mediterranean terroir will instead find a plateau sitting at, on average, 600 metres above sea level, with mountains soaring up to 1,800 metres.

A mix of limestone, clay and volcanic soils expand over two valleys:

• Calore, which is more suitable for red wines
• Sabato, which is better known for white wines

The average temperature in August, the warmest month of the year, is around 22°C. As this figure would suggest for somewhere so far south in Europe, there is tremendous variation in night and day temperatures. This extends the growing season and is essential for taming the austere, phenolic nature of Aglianico, which in good years is harvested at the beginning of November.

Coastal

Towards the coastline, Campanian vineyards also benefit from the cooling influence of the sea, a favourable factor when compared to other regions of the same latitude.

Naples sits at close to 41 degrees north, and this area’s reputation has been rising – as recently proven by the Gambero Rosso publication presenting a Tre Bicchieri [‘three glasses’] award to a wine from Ischia Island in the Gulf of Naples.

Improved winemaking skills

A profound increase in winemaking skill has been one of the most vital changes in Campania over the last decade.

Pioneers include Luigi Moio, professor of oenology at Federico II University of Naples, who works as a consultant for several wineries, teaching and preaching the necessity for clean and precise wines. He is also the producer of an outstanding Taurasi.

Larger-scale winery, Feudi San Gregorio, has made its viticulture more efficient, largely thanks to Pierpaolo Sirch, the well-known pruning consultant turned technical director of the winery.

Trends: from ‘garagiste’ Aglianico to pale rosé

Meanwhile, Marco Tinessa, the ‘garagiste’ of Aglianico and a talented wine producer with a degree from the Bocconi University in Milan, is competing with Giovanni Ascione, of the small Nanni Copè estate, to become the leader of post-modern winemaking in Campania.

Then there are the famed ‘bianchisti’, the white wine producers like Marisa Cuomo with her beloved Amalfi Coast ‘Furore’, and Sabino Loffredo of Pietracupa.

Last but not least we must not forget the emerging rosé trend among Lacryma Christi producers near to Vesuvio. These vibrant, pale pink wines of extraordinary saltiness and minerality have low alcohol and are becoming must-have wines on Amalfi Coast holidays.

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A violent earthquake in Campania 38 years ago led to the birth of one of the area’s leading wine estates. Susan Hulme MW tastes Feudi's Taurasi from 1997 to 2008, and Carla Capalbo explores the history of this estate...

Susan Hulme MW tastes 12 vintages of Feudi di San Gregorio Taurasi:

Aglianico produces some of Italy’s best and most long-lived wines, with the capacity to age, in the best cases, for more than 50 years. It also has the capacity to reflect climatic variations and terroir. Some of the best examples are produced in the Avellino hills in Italy, labelled as Taurasi DOCG.

This tasting, at Feudi di San Gregorio’s headquarters in Campania in June 2017, illustrated not only vintage variations, but the work of two hugely influential winemaking consultants: Luigi Moio worked here between 1997 and 2001, and Renato Cotarella, his successor, until 2008.

Moio had a more traditional approach, aiming for elegance by concentrating on freshness and managing the alcohol. Cotarella’s wines, meanwhile, express more concentration, smoothness and beautifully-managed tannins.

Stylistically different, yes, but relatively fine points in this line up of 12 impressive wines covering the span of bot of their tenures at Feudi di San Gregorio.

It’s clear that both have made stunningly beautiful wines, but it is still the personality of Aglianico in its Taurasi heartland which asserts itself overall.

Scroll down to read Carla Capalbo’s account of the estate and its history, originally published by Decanter.com in 2015

Feudi di San Gregorio Taurasi 1997-2008:

Feudi at a glance

Location Sorbo Serpico, Avellino, Campania

Area under vine 300 hectares

Total production 3 million bottles

Altitude of vineyards 400m-700m

Main varieties Aglianico 35%, Greco 25%, Fiano 25%, Falanghina 15%

Single vineyards Vigneto dal Re – 4ha (Aglianico for Serpico), Piano di Montevergine – 4ha (Aglianico for Taurasi Riserva), Cutizzi – 8ha (Greco di Tufo), Pietracalda – 8ha (Fiano di Avellino), Serrocielo – 8ha (Falanghina)

Carla Capalbo reports:

In November 1980, the mountainous interior of the Campania region, east of Naples, was struck by one of Italy’s worst earthquakes of modern times, leaving almost 3,000 dead and 300,000 people homeless.

Villages and farms were destroyed around its epicentre in the province of Avellino known as Irpinia. For many Irpinians, this was the signal to abandon the poor, rural countryside and head for cities in the north. For others, it became a call to arms to rebuild and maintain the culture of this little-known but unique area.

Enzo Ercolino, a native of Avellino who had moved to Rome some years earlier, was one of them. ‘I spent my teenage years impatient to flee this backwater, but seeing it in ruins made me want to help rescue it,’ he said.

He moved back and in 1986 he and his brothers, Mario and Luciano, Enzo’s Irpinian wife, Mirella Capaldo, and one of her brothers, Mario, opened a wine estate – Feudi di San Gregorio – in the hills just above Atripalda. Their first slogan was Spirituale Vinum.

These were the post-earthquake reconstruction years and money was flooding into Irpinia from Rome and the European Union. A fund created for those aged under 40 with strong business plans helped raise some of the €4 million the group needed to get going. It soon had 30 hectares of vineyards and was launching its first wines, native whites as well as reds.

‘Looking back, it’s amazing how adventurous my aunt and uncles were for their time,’ says Antonio Capaldo, who now runs the estate today. ‘When Feudi started, it was one of only about 10 estates to bottle wines in Irpinia, a land that has a 2,000 year old tradition of producing red wines from our native Aglianico grape. So even its decision to produce modern-style whites was radical.’

The group was ahead of the curve. In 2003, Avellino became one of the first Italian provinces to attain three DOCG appellations, for the whites of Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo, and the red Taurasi whose DOCG dates to 1993.

Rural backdrop

Irpinia is an undiscovered, untouristy part of the southern Italian Apennines, with a rural economy that still depends on chestnut harvests, timber, small farms, family businesses and scarce industry.

Like much of the south, it’s been hard hit by the recent economic crisis. Most families grow their own vegetables and make wine for home consumption from small plots. Wine is often still considered a food here.

The most important Irpinian winery before Feudi began its expansion was Mastroberardino, whose reputation was made in the post-war period. It set the standard for Avellino’s classic-style Taurasis.

Feudi’s ambitious vision differed from Mastroberardino’s and its other contemporaries’. Ercolino’s goal was to create a modern buzz around Campania’s wines and to become a standard-bearer for southern Italian wines, and he used the models of Tuscany, France and the New World to achieve it.

‘Feudi was stylish in everything it did, from its minimalist labels, designed by Massimo Vignelli, to its sleek marketing campaigns and barrique-aged wines made by Luigi Moio and then by Riccardo Cotarella,’ says local sommelier Jenny Auriemma.

By the end of the 1990s, iconic wines like the full-bodied Aglianico called Serpico, the pure Merlot Patrimo, and the late-harvest Greco called Privilegio were winning awards and featuring on wine lists in chic restaurants throughout Italy. ‘Feudi got people excited about Campanian wines and inspired many smaller estates,’ Auriemma says.

Feudi’s expansion seemed unstoppable. In 2004 the beautiful modern cellar opened, with its panoramic top-floor restaurant, Marennà, under the tutelage of Michelin-starred chef, Heinz Beck. (It now has a star of its own, with chef Paolo Barrale). There were plans for a concert hall made from barriques, for rare-breed animals and a cultural centre.

The dynamic, larger-than-life Ercolino was the estate’s public face, but behind the scenes tensions were growing within the family. The winery was gobbling money: it now owned more than 250 hectares and investments had increased to €40 million.

By 2001, another of Mirella’s brothers, Pellegrino Capaldo, a professor of economics and financial consultant, had stepped in as a silent, majority partner. In 2003 Mario and Luciano Ercolino left, followed in 2006 by Enzo and Mirella. Capaldo has been the principal owner, with 93% of the company, since 2010.

Feudi’s current chapter began when Pellegrino’s son, Antonio, decided to run the company. ‘I’d done my PhD at the London School of Economics in Bangladeshi micro-finance and was working at McKinsey in Europe while these changes were happening at Feudi,’ the 37-year-old says. ‘I never imagined I’d head a winery, but I loved Irpinia and wine, and had become a sommelier.’ In 2009, a day after making partner at McKinsey, he quit and turned his attention to Feudi.

‘My uncle Enzo had initiated several exciting projects that he wasn’t able to finish and we’re continuing them,’ he says. The ‘we’ includes his CEO, Pierpaolo Sirch. Trained as an agronomist in his native Friuli, Sirch began working at Feudi in 2003 as a consultant under Ercolino. ‘Enzo’s strategy was always to bring in top talent, and he wanted Pierpaolo to oversee the viticulture here,’ says Capaldo

Embracing native grapes

Sirch’s back-to-the-land approach heralded a new direction for the estate’s catalogue of more than 20 wines. ‘Fashions were changing too, but I felt we’d lost the pleasure element in many wines by overusing barriques and over-extracting them,’ he says. ‘Some wines were criticised as too international. I also felt Aglianico could be different from the rustic, tannic and impenetrable wine it’s often described as. To me, it’s an elegant, sensual red.’

The estate’s 300ha of vineyards are made up of over 700 plots, with 200 more belonging to local families who sell their grapes to Feudi. Sirch has mapped each parcel and communicates with the farmers via texts and emails.

He gives the growers free pruning courses (he also runs a pruning consultancy with Marco Simonit) and has brought in several well-known oenologists to share their experiences with his team. These include Hans Terzer from Alto Adige and Georges Pauli of Château Gruaud-Larose in Bordeaux (Riccardo Cotarella left the estate in 2007). More recently, Bordeaux’s Denis Dubourdieu has been working with Sirch on the estate’s wines in Campania and beyond.

‘Our Magna Graecia project is in full swing,’ Capaldo explains. ‘We always intended to go beyond Campania to become the leading estate in southern Italy, and to represent the native grapes of its varied regions. The first estates in Basilicata and Puglia were bought by Enzo, and we’ve recently added a Sicilian winery to our portfolio.’

The estates make and bottle their own wines under Sirch’s guidance, and are distributed by Feudi’s network. They include Cefalicchio, a biodynamic estate in Puglia, Valenti on Mount Etna in Sicily, and Basilisco in Basilicata.

The other innovative project initiated by Ercolino was to make sparkling wines from native Irpinian grapes using the traditional method. Champagne producer Anselme Selosse was the first consultant for what has become the Dubl line, although he left in 2010.

‘We’re now producing 100,000 bottles of three types: Falanghina, an Aglianico rosato and the top-of-the-line Dubl+ of Greco that spends 24 months on the lees,’ Capaldo explains.

Dubl has its own distribution line and brand. ‘We’ve opened our first Dubl Bar inside Naples airport where international travellers can have a glass of bubbly and local speciality foods or gourmet panini designed by our chef. Our future is outside of Italy, and this is a fun way to get people excited about Campania’s great native grapes.’

Carla Capalbo is a food, wine and travel writer, and photographer, based in Italy

Feudi di San Gregorio: a timeline

1986 Feudi di San Gregorio is founded by the three Ercolino brothers and Mirella Capaldo; Luigi Moio was the first winemaker

1991 The estate’s first wine, Nobellum, is released

1997 First Tre Bicchieri award given to the Taurasi 1994

1998 First release of Serpico (1996 vintage)

1999 First vintage of Patrimo (released 2001)

2000 50ha of vineyards bought in at Manduria in Puglia, and 15ha in Vulture in Basilicata

2001 Pellegrino Capaldo acquires a majority share of the estate. Architect Massimo Vignelli designs iconic labels

2003 Riccardo Cotarella becomes consultant winemaker; Pierpaolo Sirch is consultant agronomist; Mario and Luciano Ercolino leave

2004 The new cellar and headquarters are finished; Marennà restaurant opens

2006 Enzo Ercolino and Mirella Capaldo leave the company; the sparkling wine, Dubl, is launched

2007 Cotarella leaves

2009 Antonio Capaldo takes over; Sirch becomes CEO

2010 Pellegrino Capaldo becomes sole proprietor; Basilisco estate in Basilicata bought

2013 Cellar built in Puglia for Ognissole estate; Cefalicchio estate acquired in Puglia

2014 Valenti estate on Sicily’s Etna signed up as part of Magna Graecia project. Denis Dubourdieu becomes consultant winemaker. Dubl Bar opens

Related content:

• Aglianico in Campania

• Tenuta di Biserno wines tasted and rated

Susan Hulme MW profiles the best areas and producers of one Italy's oldest grapes. Plus see her top 12 Campania Aglianico wines, available exclusively to Decanter Premium members...

Aglianico in Campania

• Scroll down to see the ratings and tasting notes, available exclusively for Premium members

Aglianico is one of the world’s great grape varieties. It is certainly one of Italy’s three top-quality red grapes, along with Nebbiolo and Sangiovese. If Barolo and Barbaresco, Brunello and Chianti are northern and central Italy’s vinous odes to greatness, then the Aglianico of Taurasi is certainly Italy’s southern counterpart. A great grape must have several features.

These include an historical pedigree; the intrinsic qualities of the variety itself; the ability to produce wines that can age; and the ability to express differences of location or to transmit terroir. Mastroberardino is historically the most important Taurasi producer, with a family history going back to the mid-1800s – for many years it was the lone defender and champion of Aglianico.

‘Its origins are very ancient,’ explains Piero Mastroberardino, who believes that the introduction of Aglianico to Campania can be traced back to ancient Greek settlements in the south of Italy, in around the 6th or 7th century BC. Even the name is said to have Greek origins, being a corruption of Vitis Hellenica (Greek vine). Whatever its origins, Aglianico is undoubtedly one of Italy’s oldest grape varieties.

Continue reading below

Susan’s top Aglianicos:

Place and personality

Mastroberardino gives a description of the variety’s special qualities. ‘The particular values of this ancient variety are the great polyphenolic and aromatic qualities, as well as the acidity level, which is generally higher than in other red grape varieties,’ he says, adding that this gives ‘increased longevity’.

I recently tasted a selection of several 20-year-old Taurasi wines from the mid-1990s which, unbelievably, still seemed a little too youthful. Indeed, Mastroberardino still shows wines going back as far as the 1950s and 1960s which have the freshness and tenacity of much younger wines. These are truly some of the longest-lived wines in Italy.

Aglianico can be found in Molise, Puglia, Calabria, Sicily and Basilicata (home of Aglianico del Vulture Superiore DOCG), but it is in Campania where it finds many of its best expressions. There are two DOCGs here: Taurasi DOCG (established 1993) and Aglianico del Taburno DOCG (since 2011), and there are also a multitude of smaller DOCs in which it features, usually as a single variety but also blended with other local varieties such as Piedirosso.The grape has three different biotypes – Aglianico del Vulture in Basilicata, Aglianico del Taburno in Benevento and Aglianico di Taurasi. To add to this complexity, there are a multitude of clones. Antonio Capaldo of Feudi di San Gregorio remarks that all three DOCG areas have many historic vineyards, whereas in the 1980s and 1990s in many other parts of Italy, vines were replanted with a limited number of clones leading to a much-reduced genetic biodiversity in the planting material.A University of Milan analysis of Feudi di San Gregorio’s old Dal Re vineyard, from which its Serpico wine is sourced, was found to contain more than 40 Aglianico clones among vines aged between 120 and 180 years old. Few grape varieties in Italy have the viticultural richness and heritage to be found in these old Aglianico vineyards.

Sub-regional expressions

Even within Campania, Aglianico expresses itself very differently, with strong variations between Salerno and Paestum on the coast and the inland areas of Avellino (roughly equivalent to the ancient region of Irpinia) and Benevento.

Taurasi is perhaps the most well-known Aglianico denomination and was the first DOCG to be awarded in the whole of southern Italy. It encompasses the area surrounding the Avellino hills, about an hour’s drive inland from Naples – Italy’s deep south. Here, Aglianico produces deeply coloured wines with bracing acidity, firm tannins and high alcohol which have the ability to age for 50 years or more in the right location and the right hands. When tasting, the wines are characterised by black and red berried fruit aromas, with black olive and green herb notes and flavours in youth, developing spicier, tobacco notes with age.

Many of the more traditional-style Taurasi need time to mature. However, as with Barolo there are producers who adopt a more modernist approach, using barrique and micro-oxygenation techniques to make wines that are more drinkable when young. Riccardo Cotarella, one of Italy’s leading consultant oenologists, comments: ‘Aglianico is an outstanding marker of the territory. It is able to express where it comes from like few other vines.’

Taurasi, in the province of Avellino, is much cooler than the coast, and within the 17 villages that make up the Taurasi DOCG there are significant differences between soil (largely volcanic but with significant quantities of clay, limestone and sand) and altitude (ranging from 200m to over 900m above sea level). Aglianico is the last grape variety in Italy to ripen, but to achieve full phenolic ripeness it needs a long, slow maturation, so colder clay or clay-limestone soils are ideal. It also, as Pierpaolo Sirch, CEO of Feudi di San Gregorio comments, ‘needs a dry, well-ventilated site especially in the final phase of ripening’ to avoid problems of rot.

North of Avellino and further inland at Benevento, historically associated with legends of witchcraft and home of the liqueur Strega (the Italian word for ‘witch’), soils are fertile and deep, but because of the higher sand content they retain the heat more efficiently. This in general produces wines with less power and acidity and with alcohol levels usually ranging between 12.5% and 14.5%. The wines are often medium-bodied, with medium acidity and with red berry aromas and flavours; there is a contrasting and attractively bitter note to the tannins.

North of Naples in Caserta, where the Falerno del Massico DOC wines can be made with Primitivo or Aglianico, the volcanic soils are very high in potassium so have a high pH that generally produces wines with a little less acidity, better suited to early drinking rather than long ageing. The Aglianico produced here is slim but elegant with spicy tobacco notes.

In the Cilento region, some exciting earlier-drinking Aglianico is being produced just inland from Paestum. The climate is moderated by its proximity to the coast, although there are some higher elevation points which result in a different mesoclimate, such as the site for San Salvatore’s vineyards.

Their winemaker Alessandro Leoni describes Aglianico from Cilento as showing ‘the same behaviour as Merlot in Bolgheri’, becoming ‘smooth and round and ready within one year of the harvest’. These wines have an appealing luminosity, and intensity of aromas (bright blackberry, liquorice and spice) and a clarity of flavours which make them very easy to love, almost as if Aglianico grown near the coast takes on a sunnier personality.

Built to last

So why isn’t Aglianico more popular? Well, it is naturally a very tannic grape and traditionalstyle wines tend to need at least 10 to 15 years to come around – not something which suits the modern drinker – and this may have coloured its reputation somewhat. But now there is a much better general understanding of how to get the best out of Aglianico in both the vineyard and the winery, particularly by having a gentler pressing, extracting the tannins from just the skins and avoiding the stalks and seeds.

Campania also offers a variety of styles, some of which allow early drinking without losing the essential character of the grape. It is a grape variety which rewards patience, as aromas and flavours evolve in the glass over time, revealing the hidden depths and complexity that only the great grape varieties can consistently deliver. Claudio Panetta of Il Cancelliere sums it up perfectly, describing Aglianico as ‘a gastronomic wine, but also a meditation wine that can be drunk young for its exuberance and can be preserved and enjoyed in its maturity’.

Perhaps another ingredient for greatness should be mentioned: the producers. There is a real feeling of excitement about Aglianico’s future among the growing community of producers, some of whom have converted from being simple grape-growers into producers themselves, but who all have a passion for the grape.

Historic names such as Mastroberardino, Antonio Caggiano and Salvatore Molettieri have been joined by Feudi di San Gregorio, Il Cancelliere, Luigi Moio, Roberto di Meo, Luigi Tecce, Perillo, Colli di Lapio, Pietracupa, Ciro Picariello and many more. These producers believe in Aglianico’s potential and are researching, experimenting and exchanging ideas about how to coax the most out of this venerable variety. This makes one feel that although Aglianico has had an incredibly long history, the best is yet to come.

Susan Hulme MW is a wine consultant, educator and judge who specialises in Italy.

Related content:

• Feudi di San Gregorio: A Taurasi vertical

• Top Australian wines made from Italian grape varieties

Why Mastroberardino, Taurasi Riserva 1968 is a wine legend…

Although by 1968 Mastroberardino already enjoyed a high reputation for its Taurasi (the 1958 was widely admired too) this vintage was of such quality that the company produced three special cuvées of Taurasi (based on zonal terroir differences) as well as this riserva, which was a blend from all three. Mastroberardino’s Taurasi owes its reputation as an extremely long-lived wine to vintages such as this, which are still in their prime.

Looking back

The Mastroberardino firm dates back to 1878 but had to be relaunched after all its markets were lost during World War II. It was the late Antonio Mastroberardino who transformed Campanian viticulture by reviving the almost extinct Fiano and Greco di Tufo grape varieties. This was at a time when Italian wine authorities were urging growers in Campania to plant Sangiovese and Montepulciano rather than revive the indigenous varieties. While Taurasi existed as a wine long before, it was thanks to Mastroberardino that it gained an international reputation. (The oldest Taurasi in the Mastroberardino cellars dates from 1928, and vintages from the 1920s are still alive if fully mature.)

The vintage

The growing season in 1968 was very warm, with only a few millimeters of rainfall in summer. These dry, warm conditions created a generous crop with great concentration of colour and tannin; this concentration ensured the excellent quality of the Aglianico grapes and explains the remarkable longevity of wines from this vintage. The quality of the vintage was immediately apparent, and current president Piero Mastroberardino (who was age two at the time) remembers 1968 being spoken of with reverence ever since.

The terroir

The Aglianico grapes came primarily from the company’s 12-hectare vineyard at Montemarano in the southern part of the present DOCG region. Other grapes would have come from sites in Pian d’Angelo and Castelfranci. At Montemarano the vines are planted at elevation of 500m to 650m and face southeast. The soils are clay and crushed limestone, and planting density is 4,000 vines per hectare. The climate is essentially continental, with hot days and cool nights, which delay maturation and consolidate the acidity and tannins. Grapes are usually harvested in early November, at yields generally between 45hl/ha and 50hl/ha.

The wine

Although DOCG regulations allow the inclusion of 15% of other grape varieties, Taurasi at Mastroberardino has always been made entirely from Aglianico. The grapes were picked by hand and destemmed at the winery. The wine remained 10 days on the skins during fermentation. It was given long ageing, up to 36 months, in large casks of Slavonian chestnut wood. In the 1960s the wines were aged for about eight years in the company’s cellars in Atripalda before being released.

The reaction

Burton Anderson in 2001 remarked in Best Italian Wines: ‘Admirers of Taurasi will never forget Mastroberardino’s riserva from the 1968 vintage.’ My own appreciation in the same year was similar: ‘Sweet, intense nose, still floral and lifted, with charm and freshness. Medium- bodied, completely fresh, concentrated and balanced, still tannic and bright and vigorous, elegant and persistent, with little sign of age.’ In 2014, Ian D’Agata wrote in International Wine Cellar: ‘Vibrant aromas of raspberry, sour red cherry, tobacco and mint are complicated by an intense minerality. Juicy, perfumed and concentrated, with red fruit and chocolate flavours that have wonderful precision and amazing inner-mouth energy. Creamy-sweet but with nicely integrated acids, and with sweet, fine-grained tannins on the extremely long, perfumed and smooth finish. This is still amazingly youthful, and a paragon of balance.’

The Facts

Bottles produced 20,000

Composition 100% Aglianico

Yield 40 hl/ha

Alcohol 12.25%

Release price N/A

Price today £450

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Fierce bidding and a carnival atmosphere have seen this year's Naples wine auction make more than $10m so far, reports Elin McCoy from the annual festival in Florida.

When bids for the first Rolls Royce Dawn reached $750,000, the wealthy crowd at the glitzy Naples Winter Wine Festival 2016 charity auction went wild, shaking tambourines and fancy rattles.

This glamour car, not a stellar wine lot, was the monetary peak last Saturday. The winning bidder Julian Movsesian, who’s from California, told me, “I came intending to get this, no matter what the price.”

Most of the live auction’s 64 lots, many offered by famous vintners from five countries, included rare wines paired with fabulous trips, sparkly jewels, lavish golf holidays or VIP sports or concert tickets.

The auction was only one piece of a glittering, non-stop $10,000 per couple weekend that included vintner dinners hosted at private local mansions, with food cooked by all-star chefs, and, for an extra dollop of cash, a panel tasting celebrating the 1976 Paris Tasting.

This year’s total take had topped $10m by Saturday night, according to organisers – less than the all-time record of $16.4 million in 2007. But, an online auction was still taking place. All proceeds go to about 50 local children’s charities.

Bidding was fierce and noisy, especially for the second top lot, “Rocking at BottleRock,” which pulled in $720,000 after the sponsor tripled it to satisfy the three warring bidders. Each one ended up with the combo of Gargiulo wines (from Napa), VIP tickets to the valley’s four-day music festival, and a bespoke guitar.

Cars and celebs took the next two spots. The new Ferrari F88 Spyder went for $650,000, while a private cooking class and dinner with chef Mario Batali and actress Glenn Close brought $400,000.

The most expensive single wine-focused lot –$350,000 — was a 10-day Chilean and Argentinian winery tour with Shari and Garen Staglin, naturally included magnums of their Napa cabernet.

To my surprise, vintners even ponied up for one another’s lots. Barbara Banke, owner of Jackson Family Wines, picked up Jean-Charles Boisset’s tour of Burgundy.

Master sommelier Larry Stone, who was pouring at the event, summed it up best, “The conspicuous consumption gets crazy, but remember, it’s for a good cause.”

Organisers of the Naples Winter Wine Festival have unveiled the lineup for January's charity wine auction event taking place in Naples, Florida, which includes a host of world-renowned winemakers.

The event will see 41 top wine names participating in the festival with famed Italian winemaker Marchese Piero Antinori selected as the event’s Honored Vintner.

Speaking of his selection, as someone who has ‘significantly contributed to the Naples Winter Wine Festival’, Antinori said he is ‘excited and thrilled’.

‘It’s the first time that an Italian producer has received such an honor at the Naples Winter Wine Festival, and I consider it a great tribute to all wines and vintners of my country,’ he said.

The 2015 event will feature winemakers, from three dozen wineries in 15 global wine-producing regions around the world, pouring wines during intimate dinners hosted by festival trustees in private homes throughout Naples.

The distinguished guestlist includes Paul Pontallier of Chateau Margaux, Tim and Carissa Mondavi of Continuum in St. Helena, Claude and Laurent Ponsot of Domaine Ponsot in Morey-Saint-Denis and Cinzia Merli of Le Macchiole in Bolgheri.

Krug is the Champagne sponsor, with the Port Vintner, who will pour during the dessert course at each of the private dinners named as Dominic Symington of Symington Family Estates in Douro, Portugal.

Sandi Moran, Vintner Chair and Co-Chair of the 2015 festival said: ‘Each participating vintner is a giant in the industry, and we are thrilled that they are volunteering their time and talent to this amazing event.

‘These renowned vintners, paired with the finest chefs and our country’s most generous philanthropists, will help raise millions of dollars for underprivileged and at-risk children.’

Since its inception in 2001, the Naples Winter Wine Festival has raised more than $123 million for children in need.

Written by Decanter

Escape Campania's tourist hotspots and explore the unspoilt hilltop towns and fishing villages of this exciting wine region. Carla Capalbo shares her Cilento travel guide.

FACT FILE

Planted area 2,000ha

Main grapes White: Fiano, Falanghina, Greco, Trebbiano, Malvasia, Santa Sofia Red: Aglianico, Piedirosso, Barbera, Primitivo, Aglianico

Appellations Cilento DOC, Paestum IGT

Main soil types Flisch, a post-volcanic clay and limestone combination

Quick links:

• My perfect day in Cilento
• Cilento: Where to stay, eat, shop and relax

The bounties of the Campania region go well beyond Naples and the stunning (but often touristy) Amalfi Coast. While the wines of the province of Avellino – including its three DOCGs, Fiano di Avellino, Greco di Tufo and Taurasi – are gaining global recognition, and wines from Vesuvio, Caserta and Benevento are becoming better known too, the province of Salerno has less well-known treasures to explore.

• See more Decanter travel guides to Italy

In Cilento, the most beautiful yet relatively undiscovered southern part of the region, a handful of fine producers are raising the bar for wines of local grapes Fiano, Aglianico and Piedirosso. The grey-green Cilento hills begin south of Salerno and stretch down from Paestum to Sapri, where they meet the region of Basilicata near Maratea. They’re a central part of the Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano, Italy’s second-largest park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park was established to protect this spectacular landscape from mass tourism and speculative building.

To many the Cilento landscape is reminiscent of Tuscany or Umbria before they were gentrified: all sloping olive groves and vineyards interspersed with small fields of chickpeas, tomatoes or fig trees. The native and noble pale Podolica cow is comfortable with the area’s dry summers, and grazes in the macchia mediterranea – the natural scrub that grows wild here as throughout southern Italy. It’s rich with wildflowers and aromatic plants: wild fennel, thyme, rock-roses and the ‘strawberry tree’, whose perfumed flowers are the source of the bees’ bitterest honey, here called corbezzolo. It goes surprisingly well with mature cheese, though not perhaps with the delicate ricottas of cow or buffalo milk that are produced in this area. Look for the Cilento’s unique mozzarella nella mortella: hand-stretched cow’s milk cheese wrapped in scented myrtle branches.

Head for the sea

The coast is some of Italy’s least spoiled, with rocky shores interrupted by small fishing villages such as Marina di Pisciotta or Sapri. Seafood is plentiful: family boats still set off at night to attract octopus and baby squid. At Pisciotta, fresh anchovies are caught using a type of net – la menaica – that dates back to ancient Greece. This area was part of Magna Grecia, as the majestic temples standing ­at Paestum attest. They’re as good as anything in Greece or Sicily and, if you go off season or early in the day, you’ll have them practically to yourself. In 1944, when the Allies landed on Paestum’s beaches, all they found in the flat marshes surrounding the temples were buffaloes: this is one of only two areas in Italy in which mozzarella di bufala DOP is made.

As for wine, it was long grown as one of many crops on family farms, but in the last 20 years a small number of visionary estates have dedicated themselves to making premium wines, with fine results. People like Bruno De Conciliis and Luigi Maffini have inspired a new batch of young producers with wines of character that reflect this land and complement its delicious food. Their wineries are visitable by appointment: the people you’ll meet also make the wines, so book ahead to get time with them. The best way to visit is by car.

Culture of innovation

The De Conciliis family are pioneers. ‘It’s exciting to be making wine in an area with little oenological tradition,’ says Bruno De Conciliis, who, with his brother and sister run the family estate at Prignano Cilento (www.viticoltorideconciliis.it). A natural experimenter, De Conciliis’ range of exciting wines has loyal followers; it includes red and white Donnaluna, and Selim, the country’s first sparkling Aglianico, dedicated to jazz musician Miles Davis.

Just south of Agropoli, Mario Corrado and Ida Budetta have chosen an isolated, breathtaking position for their vineyards, with high views over the sea at Punta Tresino. Their estate, San Giovanni, has four hectares of vineyards and is making its name for Fiano and a Piedirosso that maintains its fresh, natural character in what are often very hot summers here (www.agricolasangiovanni.it).

Luigi Maffini also works by the coast, at Cenito, near Castellabate (www.luigimaffini.it). He ages his mineral Fianos, Kratos and Pietraincatenata in wood. Maffini’s 11ha of vineyards are certified organic, and his new cellar will be a fitting home for them.

Nearby at Giungano, hotelier Giuseppe Pagano of San Salvatore estate has launched an ambitious farm project of buffaloes, extra virgin olive oil and vines (www.sansalvatore1988.it). With 16ha, the land is worked organically with biodynamic treatments, but there’s nothing rustic about the wines.

If you decide to drive north to the Amalfi Coast or Salerno from Cilento and want to meet one of the icons of Campanian winemaking, Silvia Imparato’s Montevetrano is located in the hills east of Salerno. Her Bordeaux blend with added Aglianico remains one of the region’s most famous and historic reds (www.montevetrano.it) and her winery is one of the region’s most beautiful, with an elegant agriturismo attached (www.lavecchiaquercia.it).

How to get there

By plane to Naples, then a rented car – about 90 minutes’ drive if you take the autostrada. Public transport (train or coach from Naples) will get you to Paestum-Capaccio, but not into the Cilento hills.

Written by Carla Capalbo

Next page

Escape Campania's tourist hotspots and explore the unspoilt hilltop towns and fishing villages of this exciting wine region. Carla Capalbo shares her Cilento travel guide.

My perfect day in Cilento

Morning

The magnificent Doric temples of Paestum open early, so beat the crowds and delight in the grassy archaeological site of the ancient city (www.museopaestum.beniculturali.it). If you get to Vannulo – Italy’s most exceptional organic buffalo farm – before 11.30am, you can watch the mozzarella being made and visit the buffaloes. Buy the cheese to go and feast on buffalo-milk gelato before heading south. Beware: after tasting this mozzarella, you’ll never want to eat the chilled, store-bought version again! (www.vannulo.it) On your way up into the hills, visit De Conciliis winery for a first taste of the Cilento’s wine offerings.

Lunch

Armed with a detailed, old-fashioned map (the Touring Club green/yellow series is best), drive south for about 30 minutes to San Mauro Cilento, to the Cooperativa Nuovo Cilento and feast on whatever the lovely ladies there decide to cook that day, from fresh pastas to local chickpeas and vegetables: this is honest, rural food.

Afternoon

You’re now in wine country and can easily get to whichever of the nearby wineries takes your fancy: Luigi Maffini, San Giovanni or San Salvatore (shop pictured above) are recommended. Never turn up without an appointment: you may be disappointed as these are small, family farms without full-time guides – but that’s what makes them so great to visit. Make sure to sample the southern Campanian wine highlights: Fiano, Greco and Aglianico.

Evening & overnight

After all that exploring, head for the coast at Santa Maria di Castellabate (an hour’s drive or less from the wineries) in time for a swim and pre-dinner glass of chilled Fiano while you watch the sunset at Palazzo Belmonte. In summer you can eat outdoors for a romantic, alfresco dinner.

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Escape Campania's tourist hotspots and explore the unspoilt hilltop towns and fishing villages of this exciting wine region. Carla Capalbo shares her Cilento travel guide.

Cilento: Where to stay, eat, shop and relax

HOTELS

Palazzo Belmonte, Santa Maria di Castellabate

This royal summer house is more than a 17th-century palazzo. Its modern suites, private park and beach make this a desirable hideaway for holiday retreats. The beachside restaurant is also open to non-residents. www.palazzobelmonte.com

Marulivo, Pisciotta

Four apartments, a cottage and 11 rooms in a converted 14th-century convent in the centre of the medieval village, with sea views. www.marulivohotel.it

Le Chiusulelle, Ogliastro Cilento

A welcoming agriturismo with homely touches, including handmade baskets and jams. Lovely meals include preserved vegetables from the garden and local salumi. www.agriturismochiusulelle.com

Il Cannito Relais, Capaccio

Set up off the plain above Paestum, this small stone hotel features a pool, comfortable modern rooms and home-cooked meals by arrangement. www.ilcannito.com

RESTAURANTS

Nonna Sceppa, Capaccio-Paestum

Close to the temples, this lively family trattoria cooks some of the area’s best food, with abundant pastas and grilled meats complemented by a great wine list. www.nonnasceppa.com

Trattoria Villa Mare Luna, Pollica

Up a steep winding road from Acciaroli is this restaurant and hotel run by the Scarano family. The house sits in a leafy garden with sea views. The dishes feature delicious cucina rustica: soups, handmade pastas with vegetables and fish, and home-baked cakes. www.hotelvillamareluna.it

Il Rosso e il Mare, Acciaroli

A family of fishermen run this attractive restaurant in one of the Cilento’s favourite sea towns. The redheaded son (the ‘rosso’ in the restaurant name) sends the boat out daily; the female members of the family cook its catch. They also sell their own tuna and anchovies preserved in extra virgin olive oil. www.ilrossoeilmare.it

Da Angiolina, Marina di Pisciotta

On the sea-strip in this small fishing port, Angiolina’s has long been the place for fresh marinated anchovies and local vegetables or pizza if you wish. Eat outdoors in summer. www.ristoranteangiolina.it

La Chocolathera, Sapri

Enzo Crivella knows more about Cilento than anyone, and his chocolate-coffee-wine bar is always buzzing with whoever’s in town. Crivella also makes the area’s best gelati in summer, in a free-standing kiosk on the waterfront, across the street from the shop. Tel: +39 (0973) 984 8418

SHOPS

Santomiele, Prignano Cilento

The Cilento is famous for its fine-seeded, DOP-status white figs; they’re more elegant than their Turkish or Calabrian counterparts. Antonio Longo dries and stuffs them with nuts or chocolate for some very upscale sweetmeats. They’re the best presents to take home. www.santomiele.it

Cooperativa Nuovo Cilento, San Mauro Cilento

This enterprising cooperative olive mill has a shop selling fragrant Cilento DOP extra virgin olive oils and a wonderful restaurant featuring local country food. www.cilentoverde.com

Caseificio Chirico, Velia

This well-run dairy offers a range of cow and buffalo cheeses. Sample the local favourites, including delicate ricotta, aged caciocavallo and the rare mozzarella nella mortella, a Slow Food ‘Presidium’ food. www.caseificiochirico.it

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A small-scale wine producer in Italy's Campania region has drawn the attention of Moet Hennessy-owned Champagne house Veuve Clicquot over the colour of its labels.

Italian winemaker Ciro Picariello has encroached on the trademarked ‘Clicquot Yellow’ colour, the Champagne house claimed.

Contrary to many media reports, Clicquot said in a statement released to decanter.com that it has not filed formal legal action against the Italian producer, which owns seven hectares and makes around 3,000 bottles per year of sparkling wine from Fiano d’Avellino grapes, alongside its main wine.

‘Veuve Clicquot approached Ciro Picariello at the end of 2013 to inform them of the similarity between the colours of their labels, and requested if the Ciro Picariello label colour could evolve to avoid any risk of association between the two products,’ the Champagne house said.

It added that the two parties have entered ‘amicable discussions’.

A twitter protest campaign has started in Italy under the hashtag #boicottalavedova, or ‘boycott the widow’, referring to the widowed Madame Clicquot who built the group’s international reputation. The French word ‘veuve’ translates to ‘widow’ in English.

Ciro Picariello declined to comment. Some Italian media sites have suggested that the producer’s label is orange rather than yellow.

Veuve Clicquot said it works extensively to protect its trademark rights worldwide. ‘The Clicquot Yellow colour is trademarked in the European Union, US and Australia,’ it said.

Written by Chris Mercer

Florida’s Naples Winter Wine Festival last weekend took a total of US$8.6m – a third less than last year and half the auction’s peak takings of 2007.

Ferrari out: Bob and Karen Scott celebrate their winning bid of $750,000 for the f12 berlinetta

The three-day festival, which has been going since 2001 and won a reputation as the most important charity auction in the US, has now raised a total of US$116m, with a mixture of high-end wine lots and holidays, cars, jewellery and other ultra-luxurious treats.

Takings have fluctuated wildly since recession hit: from highs of US$16.5m in 2007 and US$14m the following year, the total plummeted in 2009 to US$5m.

It picked up in 2010 with takings of US$8.5m, was in robust health for the last two years, with totals of over US$12m, before dropping down again this year.

Festival chairman Bob Edwards remains upbeat. ‘Every year is different as far as the amount raised, but what is constant is our goal to raise as much money as we can for underprivileged and at-risk children,’ he told Decanter.com.

‘We raised US$1.7m per hour of bidding, a pretty incredible testament to everyone’s generosity under the auction tent.’

At the auction at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, bids ranging from US $20,000 to US$750,000 were tabled.

The latter sum went on the most powerful Ferrari ever made, the 2013 F12 berlinetta, the first ever sold in the US. Half that price, at US$340,000, was the 2014 Maserati Quattroporte V8.

The money raised is distributed through the festival’s founding organisation, Naples Children & Education Foundation.

Wine lots included a 65-bottle complete vertical of Château Mouton-Rothschild Artist Label series, from 1945 to 2010, which fetched US$180,000, and a trip to Paris and Bordeaux with private dinners and tastings, led by Napa’s Darioush Vineyards, which fetched US$220,000.

A modern jeroboam (5 litres) of each of Jackson Family Wines Verité’s 100-point wines from 2007, La Muse, La Joie and Le Désir, along with VIP tickets to the Kentucky Derby, went for US$130,000.

Verité’s owner, Barbara Banke of Jackson Family Wines was this year’s ‘Honored Vintner’ at the Festival.

Other lots included a round-the-world trip for a couple on a private jet, which went for US$240,000, four nights in Paris for ‘eight ladies’ to visit the great fashion houses (US$220,000), and a golfing, hunting and fishing trip to Scotland for ‘eight gentlemen’ (US$£150,000).

Written by Adam Lechmere

The Naples Winter Wine Festival charity auction brought in US$12.2m on the weekend of 29 January, bringing the event’s total earnings to US$106.7m during its 12-year life.

Naples Winter Wine Festival: out of doldrums

Takings this year were nearly US$100,000 more than last year, signalling that the ultra-exclusive event is out of the doldrums of 2009 when takings fell to US$5.3m.

It is still short of the all-time high of 2007, when US$16.4m was taken,

At the annual event, held at The Ritz-Carlton resort in Naples, Florida, 580 guests who had paid US$8,500 per double ticket, bid for wine and wine-related lots.

All proceeds are donated to local children’s charities through the Naples Children & Education Foundation.

Bidding on the top wine lot – eight bottles of Château Haut-Brion from 1935, 1945, 1959, 1961, 1975, 1989, 1990 and 2009, and six bottles each from the 2010 vintage of Haut-Brion Blanc and Rouge – was so competitive that Prince Robert of Luxembourg, the event’s guest of honour and proprietor of the chateau, offered a second identical lot. The two lots brought in US$1.1m.

According to reports, the two bottles of the 1935 were the last in the chateau’s possesion.

Popular lots included a 35-bottle vertical spanning 84 years of Haut-Brion, sold for US$320,000; a vertical that included a bottle from each vintage of the Napa Valley’s Dana Estates and an estate visit for US$240,000; and a rare collection of Shafer Hillside Select and a stay in Napa Valley that fetched US$220,000.

An instant cellar of 556 bottles of US West Coast wines – the most bottles in a single festival lot – went for US$150,000.

Written by Janice Fuhrman