Between Naples and Caserta, in the plain of the ancient Campania felix, there is a wine harvested by climbing very tall ladders. We discovered it while travelling through the countryside around Aversa, where the vines climb up trees just as they did centuries ago. This is Asprinio, the soul of the Aversa DOC.
The production area
The appellation covers 19 municipalities in the province of Caserta and 3 in the province of Naples. Besides Aversa, on the Caserta side there are, among others, Villa Literno, Casal di Principe, Trentola Ducenta, Sant'Arpino, Gricignano di Aversa and Orta di Atella; on the Naples side Giugliano in Campania, Qualiano and Sant'Antimo. It is a fertile plain of volcanic origin, which the Romans called the Ager Campanus.
The grape and the types
The undisputed star is Asprinio, a white grape with marked acidity that gives fresh, dry, light wines. The production rules provide for just two types:
- Aversa Asprinio, with at least 85% Asprinio;
- Aversa Asprinio spumante, made from 100% Asprinio.
The natural freshness of this grape has always made it suited to sparkling wine: in the local osterie, lightly sparkling "frizzantino" wine was a fixture long before it became fashionable.
The Aversa alberata, a vertical vineyard
What struck us most is the landscape. This is where the alberata aversana survives, a training system of Etruscan origin in which the vines are "married" to poplars as tall as 10-15 metres, forming real green walls from one tree to the next. Harvesting requires long wooden ladders and expert hands. The production rules protect this traditional form: wines from these vines may carry the mention "alberata" or "vigneti ad alberata" on the label. Today most new vineyards are trellised, but the surviving alberate are a heritage worth seeing at least once. We go into more detail in Asprinio di Aversa and the married vines.
A little history
Vine growing in this plain is very ancient, and tradition links the spread of Asprinio to the area of Aversa, the city founded by the Normans in the 11th century. Official recognition is more recent: the Aversa DOC was created by decree of 31 July 1993, and the production rules have since been updated several times, most recently in 2014. It is one of the region's fifteen DOCs.
Food pairings
Asprinio has a dry, fruity flavour, with an acidity that cleanses the palate. We recommend trying it with Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP, a thoroughly Caserta pairing that we find perfect, with seafood starters and with fried food. The spumante makes an excellent aperitif, perhaps alongside a fried pizza.
In the Caserta area the appellations are overseen by the Consorzio di tutela VITICA, recognised by the Ministry, as reported in the Campania Region's Guida Catalogo 2024.
Where to taste it and what is nearby
Start from the centre of Aversa, with its cathedral and its hundred churches: you will find everything in Norman Aversa: the cathedral and the historic centre. A short distance away is The Royal Site of Carditello, the Bourbon estate in the middle of the countryside. For the full picture of the province's appellations read The wines of Caserta and, for an itinerary through all the region's vineyards, our guide The wines of Campania. If you are looking for other Caserta whites, compare it with Falerno del Massico DOC.
Sources: MASAF, production rules for DOP and IGP wines; Aversa DOC production rules; Campania Region with AIS Campania, Guida Catalogo 2024 of the wine-growing and wine-making companies of Campania.
Photo at the top (Aversa): Dinamo86, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.