2011 Vinosia Taurasi Santandrea

Vinosia is the continuation of a family’s passion for winemaking. The estate was started in 2003 by brothers Mario and Luciano Ercolino, whose family co-founded Feudi di San Gregorio, one of southern Italy’s most admired estates. The brothers wanted to start their own label and make wines from the Irpinia territory east of Naples, which, like most of Campania, was until recent decades the producer primarily of undistinguished bulk wines and low quality grapes. But today Vinosia owns 250 vineyard acres planted to mostly indigenous grapes. The estate produces red and white wines from the grapes Fiano di Avellino, Greco di Tufo, Falanghina, Taurasi Aglianico, Primitivo and Negroamaro. Mario is Vinosia’s winemaker, and he is noted for making many of the great, complex Feudi di San Gregorio wines that have burnished Campania’s reputation for fine wines in recent decades.

Campania is on the southeastern coast of Italy, and the city of Naples is its commercial and cultural capital. Wine has always been produced in this hard-scrabble region, though the quality of those wines has traditionally not matched the wine quality elsewhere in Italy. Rich volcanic soils mean that the region easily grows everything from citrus and artichokes to nuts, and growing wine grapes has not been a priority historically. However in the last couple of decades forward-thinking producers and vineyard owners have focused on improving both their wines and Campania’s winemaking reputation, and the results are noteworthy. Campania was awarded its first DOCG appellation in 1991. It is the Taurasi DOCG, which grows primarily Aglianico, a native grape that can produce big, concentrated, complex red wines with layers of earthy flavors. There are 101,000 acres of vineyards in Campania, making it Italy’s ninth largest wine producing region, though only 2.8% of those vineyards are in DOC appellations. Nevertheless several excellent large producers and numerous boutique producers are now crafting well-reviewed red and white wines, all mostly from indigenous grapes. Besides Aglianico, the other most frequently planted red wine grapes are Coda de Volpe and Pedirosso. White grapes planted are Falanghina, Fiano and Greco. There are 18 DOCs in Campania.