2016 Feudi di San Gregorio Taurasi

Feudi di San Gregorio was founded in 1986 by two families from the region of Campania, in southern Italy just east of Naples. The Capaldo and Ercolino families built a modern, large facility and have had notable success producing wines from indigenous southern Italian grapes, such as Aglianico. The estate is in the Avellino appellation, and it produces both red and white wines. Feudi di San Gregorio has 625 acres under cultivation and produces numerous wines including the whites Falanghina and the poetically named Lacryma Christi, or “Tears of Christ.” Reds include Primitivo, Aglianico and Merlot. Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that “quality is especially remarkable given the large number of bottles produced.”

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.