Another Campania: The varying shades of a volcanic terroir

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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