Wines of Campania

Last month I had a blast learning more about the wines of Campania and writing Part I for The American|InItalia in ‘Campania Awakens, I’. It all started thanks to a gorgeous group of clients. They insist on delving into the wines of a different region each time they visit Italy. We’ve visited Basilicata and Puglia in the past. This year Campania was on deck as they we’re heading to the Amalfi Coast. Our pre-trip ritual includes  a relaxing meal in Rome where we discuss the region, vineyards and wines we’re about to sample and we put our pairings to the test. As a frequent visitor to Naples and the Amalfi Coast, I usually drink natural wines and highly-rated DOCG wines – crisp whites such as Fiano d’Avellino and bold reds like Aglianico del Taburno. In our pre-trip dinner, I knew it would be futile to attempt to jam in all the region’s wine zones in a single chat. There are too many diverse areas to cover. Instead, in Part I, we focused our travels on Campania’s less-mentioned coastal areas, Capri, Vesuvius, Paestum and Cilento. These areas are most often remembered for the sea, archaeological sites and mozzarella di bufala cheese but each has a highly specific wine history to discover.In Part II, we headed inland to the southern end of the Apennine Mountain range and the unique territory of Irpina where temperatures get quite chilly. It’s not surprising given that vineyards sit up to 1900 feet above sea level. These elevations combined with temperatures that fluctuate greatly throughout the year can be quite trying. How does this affect the glass of Fiano that we’re about to taste? To find out continue reading ‘Campania awakens, II‘.