The earthy side of Campania, Sannio Beneventano

Out and about in Sannio Beneventano to discover an area with a vocation for wine and cooperatives and which produces almost half the wine in the Campania region. 

An unexpected invitation brought me to this welcoming and sunny region and allowed me to discover its more reserved side, far from the sea with its earthy and powerful personality. Sannio Beneventano, also known as the province of Benevento’s Sannio Hills, produces almost half of the entire region’s wine. It is full of snowcapped mountains, pointed and rolling hills, places that forge the soul as mother and stepmother. But the Samnites have little in common with the Iceland imagined by Leopardi being a warrior people who respond with force to the capricious whims of nature, as they did after the last floods here that buried cellars and many bottles of Aglianico and Falanghina wine.

Geographically, Sannio borders to the south with the area of Irpinia, to the north the region of Molise, to the east with the region of Puglia and to the west with the province of Caserta. Most of the wine production is centered in the Calore Valley that is home to diverse varieties, centuries old vineyards and unique towns and hamlets.

Driving through Sannio in a van is the best way to take in the landscapes, aromas and flavors. The people who live here are welcoming, smiling and affectionate, starting with the three men who head the producers’ association -  President Lillo Rillo, Director Nicola Matarazzo and media officer Pasquale Carlo – who accompanied us on this voyage of discovery.

Because it produces around half of the region’s wine, production is mostly done by cooperatives of which there are four. The first is La Guardiense  that was founded in 1960 and has 1,500 hectares of vineyards worked by its 1,000 members. This was followed in 1966 by Solopaca  with its 660 members and 1,300 hectares of vineyards and then, in 1976, by Taburno , with 300 members and 600 hectares. The latest isVigne Sannite  that was set up in 2005 has 300 members who work 500 hectares of vineyards.

The appellations have been simplified to a DOCG Aglianico del Taburno, the two DOC Falanghina del Sannio and Sannio wines and the IGP Benevento.

While the principle grapes in the zone are Aglianico and Falanghina, there are a number of ‘minor’ varietals like Coda di Volpe and Piedirosso that are making some excellent wines and mirror a territory that is moving in the right direction by focusing more than on quality than on quantity, as was the case in the past. There is also a grape with the unusual name of Barbera del Sannio which, aside from its name, has little to do with the one cultivated in Piedmont. It is a highly aromatic red wine grape that in certain ways is similar to Aleatico and has a wrapping, balsamic kaleidoscope of intense aromas. Rumor has it that the misleading name of this interesting grape will soon, and rightfully so, be changed to one that better suits it.

As for Falanghina, our voyage of discovery ended where it began, at Sant’Agata dei Goti, one of Italy’s most beautiful towns. It is set on the slopes of Monte Taburno, on a steep, tuff stone cliff which at sunset offers a spectacular picture. It has narrow little streets, suggestive buildings with an ancient charm and a cellar that was carved out of the bowels of the town itself and houses hundreds of old bottles. Here we visited the Mustilli wine estate where we found the first Falanghina wine ever bottled, vintage 1979.

In the end we even had time for a ‘lesson’ on Neapolitan pizza given by the exceptional ‘maestro’ Gino Sorbillo which merits an article all to itself. The perfect pairing of pizza and Falanghina is a regional creation that has been relaunched by the Consorzio del Sannio wine producers’ association to underscore the strong ties between wine, food and wine-food culture in Campania.