Manuela Piancastelli and Peppe Mancini are hosting a tasting of five of their wines at my law office: 2011 Ambruco, 2013 Centomoggia, 2012 Roseto del Volturno, 2011 Piancastelli and 2014 Le Serole. These certified organic wines are made from three obscure ancient grapes cultivated only in the Southern part of the Caserta Region of Campania: pallagrello nero, pallagrello bianco and casavecchia. (This is not your everyday Chianti or Pinot Grigio!) The grapes have been used in the commercial production of wines for about only twenty years. At one time they were a favorite of the Bourbon rulers (before the 1861 unification of Italy), but  fell in disfavor after unification and were “lost” and used only by local farmers for small rustic productions.

Peppe remembered the pallagrello grapes from his childhood and 30 years ago embarked upon “re-discovering” the grapes. While rediscovering the pallagrello grapes, Peppe found an old vine of casavecchia grapes near an ancient Roman house in Pontelatone. DNA testing confirmed the originality of the casavecchia grape and distinguished it from the pallagrello nero grape. The pallagrello bianco, pallagrello nero and casavecchia grapes were so forgotten from viticulture memory that they were not included in the National Register of winemaking grapes until about ten years ago.

When Peppe left his profession as an attorney to work on making wine from these ancient grapes, he met Manuela, a journalist, and they formed a loving partnership; they married and started Terre del Principe.

Terre del Principe is located in Castel Campagnano, the southern part of the Caserta Province. It is in the Terre del Volturno wine region; which was created in 1995. In addition to the three grapes that Terre del Principe cultivates, the wine region includes production of wines made from a variety of other white and red grapes such as: white – falanghina, coda di volpe, biancolella, fiano and international grapes; and red – aleatico, aglianico, primitivo, sangiovese, piedirosso and international grapes. Terre del Principe is one of the few wineries in the Terre del Volturno wine region that makes wine exclusively with the three obscure indigenous grapes.

Here is a description of the wines:

2011 Ambruco 100% pallagrello nero; vinification:  maceration and fermentation in stainless steel, 12 months 30% in new French oak barriques and 70% first (used) French oak barriques; refining 18 months in bottle before release.

2013 Centomoggia 100% casavecchia; vinification:  maceration and fermentation in stainless steel, 12 months 30% in new French oak barriques and 70% first French oak barriques; refining 18 months in bottle before release.

2012 Roseto del Volturno 50% pallagrello nero and 50% casavecchia; vinification: speed passage on the skins, fermentation in stainless steel.

2011 Piancastelli 70% pallagrello nero and 30% casavecchia; vinification:  maceration and fermentation in stainless steel, 12 months 30% in new French oak barriques and 70% first French oak barriques; refining 18 months in bottle before release.

2014 Le Serole 100% pallagrello bianco; vinification: fermentation 3 months in new French oak barriques, 6 months in stainless steel and refining 12 months before release.