Between the Alburni mountains and the hills of the inland Cilento, in the valley of the river Calore, there is a small appellation that bears the name of a village. We got there by driving inland from Paestum, through olive groves, chestnut woods and low, well-exposed vineyards. This is the Castel San Lorenzo DOC, one of the least known in Campania and, for that very reason, a lovely surprise.
The production area
The DOC covers eight municipalities in the province of Salerno. It includes the whole territory of Castel San Lorenzo, Bellosguardo and Felitto, and part of Aquara, Castelcivita, Roccadaspide, Magliano Vetere and Ottati. Most of it lies within the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, on clay and limestone hills crossed by the Calore salernitano river.
Grapes and types
Here we find an interesting anomaly for Campania: alongside the grapes of the South, Barbera plays an important role. The production rules provide for numerous types:
- Bianco, from Tuscan Trebbiano and Malvasia bianca;
- Rosso and Rosato, from Barbera and Sangiovese;
- Barbera, with at least 85% of the grape, also as riserva;
- Aglianicone, an ancient black grape of the Salerno area, also as riserva;
- Moscato, in still, spumante, passito and Lambiccato versions.
Moscato Lambiccato is the curiosity of the area: a sweet wine made from dried grapes, whose fermentation is stopped to preserve the grape's natural sugars.
History and recognition
Vines have always been part of the farming economy of the Calore valley, alongside the olive and the chestnut. The appellation was recognised by a decree of November 1991, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale in 1992, and the production rules were updated in 2011 and 2014. The Campania Region's Guida Catalogo 2024 describes it as a land of vineyards that are "orderly, well exposed, low": exactly the impression we had too.
Food pairings
The red and the Barbera go well with Cilento cured meats, pasta with ragù and grilled meat. The white goes with vegetable starters and light dishes. Moscato, in its sweet versions, is perfect at the end of a meal with dry pastries and chestnut-based desserts, a pairing that comes naturally here, since this is the land of the Marrone di Roccadaspide IGP chestnut.
The Salerno appellations are overseen by the Consorzio di tutela Vita Salernum Vites, recognised by the Ministry, as reported in the Campania Region's Guida Catalogo 2024.
In all honesty, according to the Guida Catalogo 2024 this DOC is now very little used, and finding a bottle is almost a small stroke of luck.
Where to taste it and what is nearby
The Calore valley deserves at least a weekend. At Felitto, the Calore Gorges await you, one of the most striking spots inland; a few kilometres away are the Castelcivita Caves and, in Magliano Vetere, the Palaeontological Museum of Magliano Vetere. To get your bearings, start with The Cilento: what to do and what to see and compare this DOC with the nearby Cilento DOC. The full overview of the province is in The wines of Salerno, while for an itinerary through the vineyards of the whole region there is our guide The wines of Campania.
Sources: MASAF, production rules for DOP and IGP wines; Castel San Lorenzo 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 (Castel San Lorenzo): Geofix, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.