CAMPANIA
The ‘shin’ of Italy’s boot, Campania is one of the country’s oldest wine regions (the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines all planted grapes here), anchored by its capital city, Naples. The name is derived from the Latin Campania Felix meaning ‘happy land’ or ‘fertile countryside’ — and while not affluent in the pecuniary sense (it ranks 18th out of 20 Italian regions in GDP), Campania is flush with the stuff most of us conjure when we contemplate Italy. Naples, the country’s third largest city (after Rome and Milan), is the historic capital of Baroque style, the cradle of pizza and pasta, home to Europe’s largest old town center (a UNESCO world heritage site) and some 500 domed churches dating back to the early Christian era. It sits in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius, an active volcano whose 79 AD eruption created the famous ruins of Pompeii, and splashes into the Gulf of Naples, populated by the postcard islands of Capri, Ischia, and Procida. The city remains a vibrant culinary, cultural, and artistic hub today, with more Michelin starred restaurants than any other place in Italy, world famous palaces, museums, and public art, including street murals and celestial metro stations.
Venture outside Naples and Campania continues to astonish. There’s the famous Amalfi coast — 34 of Italy’s most fabled miles, where the towns of Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi itself, and Ravello sport brightly coloured dwellings in, around and down the crags of jagged cliffs that pierce the azure brushstrokes of Tyrrhenian Sea and sky. Head further inland and you’ll discover no less eye-popping landscapes composed of verdant forests, hills, valleys, and mountains.
And everywhere, there are grape vines. Five provinces comprise Campania: Napoli, Avellino, Benevento, Caserta, and Salerno, and they all produce wine. Viticulture has flourished in the region’s abundant sunshine, hot and dry summers, mild winters, volcanic soil, and cool sea and mountain breezes since antiquity. The legendary Roman fortified wine Falernian, for instance, ostensibly gifted by the god Bacchus to local farmer Falernus and famous enough in its day for several ancient sources to extol the 121 BC vintage in particular, comes from Campania. And if now no one can agree on its precise recipe, that’s in part because the region continues to host a feast of native varieties that date back to the ancients and are found virtually nowhere else.
But Falernian was definitely a white wine, which makes Falanghina (“fah-LAHN-ee-nah”) the grape in our white selection this month, and one of the most likely source ingredients. It is ancient, indigenous to Campania, and distinctive enough to demand inclusion in local tipples worth remembering. Falanghina is revered for its crisp acidity, aromatic intensity, lively citrus flavor, and delicate floral and herbal undertones. Campanian white wine specialist Guido Marsella makes an unsurprisingly great one.
The red is made from the Aglianico grape, which arguably remains Campania’s calling card. Full bodied and late ripening enough that it cannot be grown any farther north, Aglianico is sometimes known as the ‘Barolo of the South’ due to its elegant tannins and aging potential. In the past when we’ve featured Aglianico, the bottles have come from the Taurasi or Vulture DOCs. Our producer this month is Fattoria La Rivolta (Farmhouse of the Revolution), located in the Benevento province and part of the Taburno DOC, one of the smallest in Campania. The soil is volcanic like in Taurasi, but with more sandstone, and has hotter days and cooler nights tempered by the mountains. The resultant wines are generally a little lighter and higher in acidity than their brethren, but still substantial — ideal for whatever the San Francisco Bay summer has in store this year.
Salut,
Alan Hicks - Wine Buyer, Noe Valley
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Guido Marsella Falanghina 2022 |
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Region: Benevento, Campania |
About the Winery: After working as a building contractor for the family business, Guido, who loved the countryside, bought land in the Summonte area, in Iripinia, and founded the winery in 1995. He was the first Fiano producer to release his wines on the market a year after the harvest, in a mature state, inaugurating a new approach which was later taken by other producers. Today, backed by years of experience and prestigious accolades, Guido has chosen to wait two years after harvesting to release some of his wines, reinterpreting the territory in terms of aromatic complexity and longevity. Guido Marsella’s vineyards are in the Partenio Regional Park, at an altitude of around 600 meters. The hilly terrain, the high altitude, the clayey loamy soil, rich in volcanic elements, with a rocky structure, and the presence of favorable winds all contribute to the health of the vines, the preservation of environmental balance and low yields, in order to favor quality. This is one of the best terroirs for the cultivation of Fiano, a very ancient vine that has always been tied to the history of wine-making in Campania and to the traditions of the area, as well as Greco di Tufo and Falanghina. About the Winemaking: The vineyard is 500 - 700 meters above sea level and features rocky-volcanic soils with limestone-clay subsoil. Organic farming practices Vines are 25 years old on average. After harvest, grapes are cleaned, gently pressed and fermented with native yeasts at a controlled temperature in stainless steel, with fine lees contact 10-12 months in the tank, followed by 10-12 months aging in the bottle. 5,000 cases total production Tasting Notes: Bright straw yellow; freshly-picked flowers and fruit capture your senses. Lively flavours of minerals and complexity unfold. Light-bodied, lively and dynamic. |
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Winemaker: Guido Marsella |
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Price per bottle / per case $29.99 $323.90 |
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Suggested Food Pairing: All kinds of seafood dishes: clams, mussels, prawns, Paccheri with seafood ragout au gratin, spaghetti allo scoglio, rigatoni with octopus, risotto with scampi, grilled or baked salmon, any preparation that includes lemon, garlic and parsley. Tuna & Anchovy Vermicelli (see recipe)
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Fattoria La Rivolta Aglianico del Taburno 2018 |
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Region: Benevento, Campania |
About the Winery: Located in Torrecuso, in the province of Benevento, Fattoria La Rivolta consists of hilly lands that range in altitude from 300 to 600 meters. With unique soils of limestone and clay, the vineyards are located in one of the smallest DOCs in the region, Campania's Taburno, home to some of the most picturesque and mountainous vineyards in all of Europe. Here, the Cotroneo family has been living in the region for several generations. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the grandparents Giovanni and Teresa maintained and cultivated one of the largest agricultural farms in Benevento, which was later divided amongst their eight grandchildren. After joining lands with his brother Mario, Paolo Cotroneo launched Fattoria La Rivolta in 1997. A third generation farmer, Paolo immediately began to organically cultivate his vines, earning certification from ICEA, the Istituto per la Certificazione Etica e Ambientale, in 2001. A family affair that includes two sisters and a cousin, these 29 hectares of cultivated vineyards are hand harvested to produce low yields and farmed without the use of chemical treatments. About the Winemaking: Grapes are sourced from low-yielding vines (~70 q/ha) and hand-harvested in mid to late October. The vineyards are planted on south–southeast facing slopes with marl and sandstone-calcareous soils.After fermentation, the wine is aged for 18 months in large 25 hL French oak barrels, followed by an additional 12 months of bottle ageing before release. ~25,000 bottles produced. Tasting Notes: The nose is smoky, earthy and umami, with aromas of tobacco, dirt, pepper and tart blackberries. The palate brings sweeter berries and citrus, plus more earth and pepper for balance, but the tannins are absolutely militant and have everything very tightly sewn up. — Danielle Callegari, Wine Enthusiast. |
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Winemaker: Paolo Cotroneo |
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Price per bottle / per case $28.99 $313.11 |
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Suggested Food Pairing: Grilled meats, including barbecue,richer pastas with truffle or red sauce, cheeses like Pecorino, Asiago, Grana Padano, vegetable dishes with black bean sauce, soy sauce, tempeh or roasted mushrooms. |
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Tuna and Anchovy Vermicelli
Ingredients
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400 g vermicelli pasta (140z) or spaghetti
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200 g canned tuna (7oz) in olive oil
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2-4 anchovy fillets in oil or salted
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250 ml beef broth (8.5 floz) I used homemade
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salt for pasta and to taste
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black peppercorns as required
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pink peppercorns as required (Peruvian pepper)
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1 sprig fresh parsley
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1 knob butter
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3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
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Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to the boil again.
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Wash and chop the parsley. Drain the oil from the tuna. Rinse the anchovies well if they are salted. Cut them into small pieces and together with ¾ of the tuna, puree in a blender with a little of the beef broth.
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Put this sauce into a saucepan and add the rest of the broth and a few pink and black peppercorns. Stir and cook over a low heat until the sauce reduces and thickens (5-10 minutes). Add the rest of the tuna to the sauce and stir to mix in. Add salt to taste.
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Cook the vermicelli al dente according to the instructions on the packet, save a cup of the pasta cooking water and drain the pasta. Return it to the pot or put it in a bowl and add the butter, olive oil and chopped parsley. Toss to mix well.
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Then add the tuna and anchovy sauce, mix everything together well. Return to the heat and cook for another minute to allow the pasta to absorb the flavours of the sauce. If the sauce seems dry, add some pasta cooking water. Serve immediately with a little more chopped parsley and a few peppercorns.
