Following the course of the Volturno through the Caserta area, we came across cultivated hills, perched villages and grape names that almost nobody outside Campania knows. The Terre del Volturno IGT was created precisely to tell the story of this valley and its grapes.
An area as large as a province
Established in 1995, the IGT covers almost eighty municipalities in the province of Caserta and three in the province of Naples: from the upper Caserta area at the foot of the Matese down to the Aversa plain. The production rules provide for white, red and rosé, also frizzante, amabile (medium-sweet) and passito, plus novello.
Pallagrello, the grape of the Bourbons
The symbol of this IGT is Pallagrello, both white and black. Its story won us over: Ferdinand IV of Bourbon gave it a place in the Vigna del Ventaglio in Caserta, at San Leucio, a semicircular vineyard where the finest grapes of the Kingdom were grown. It was once also called "Piedimonte bianco" and "Piedimonte rosso", after Piedimonte Matese. Almost lost in the 20th century, it was revived by a few winegrowers at the end of the 1990s, mainly around Caiazzo, Castel Campagnano and Alvignano.
Casavecchia and Asprinio
The grapes that may appear on the label also include Casavecchia, linked to Pontelatone and now the star of a DOC of its own, and Asprinio, the white grape of the Aversa countryside traditionally trained as an alberata, with the vines climbing up poplars. The list is completed by Falanghina, Fiano, Greco, Coda di Volpe, Aglianico, Piedirosso, Primitivo and Sciascinoso.
A curiosity
According to the story handed down locally, the name Casavecchia comes from an old vine found beside the ruins of an abandoned house. It is a tale that cannot be verified, but it nicely explains the bond between these grapes and the farming memory of the area.
The river and the hills
The Volturno is the longest river in mainland southern Italy and crosses the province before flowing into the sea at Castel Volturno. Along its middle course the villages sit on the hills, with vineyards facing the sun and sheltered by Monte Maggiore and the Matese mountains. Further downstream, in the plain between Capua and Aversa, the landscape changes: open fields, tall rows of vines, the ancient Campania felix of the Romans. A single IGT thus spans very different environments, and the wines reflect it.
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
We recommend a tour of Caiazzo, with its historic centre overlooking the valley, and the villages of the middle Volturno, with a detour to Aversa for the Asprinio. Find out more with Casavecchia di Pontelatone DOC, Asprinio di Aversa and the married vines and The village of Caiazzo, then go back to the overview in The wines of Caserta. To put the stages together, read The wines of Campania.
Sources: MASAF – Production rules for DOP and IGP wines, Italian Wine Central – IGP Terre del Volturno, DoctorWine – Pallagrello nero; Campania Region with AIS Campania, Guida Catalogo 2024 of the wine-growing and wine-making companies of Campania.
Photo at the top (Caiazzo): NicFer at Italian Wikipedia, GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons.