There is always a beginning, where roots are established. For my family our ancestral roots are in the Town of Corleto Perticara, Potenza, Basilicata, but our modern Southern Italian roots are planted in the frazione of Squille, Town of Castel Campagnano, Caserta, Campania, specifically, the winery of Terre del Principe. In 2010 my wife, our two sons and I took the overnight flight from Boston to Roma, for me and our sons our first trip to Italy. A sleepy tired group, we were met by a driver who took us on an approximate three hour trip to Terre del Principe. This was our first visit to any establishment in Southern Italy with the exception of a pit stop at an Autogrill, which will be a topic of later blog article.
At the time I was not knowledgeable of Southern Italy wines. I had read about and consumed Southern Italy wines in the USA, but I had never experienced Southern Italy wines. Through a series of connections, I was able to schedule an appointment at Terre del Principe. My cousin Michael Bonadies, as noted in my introductory blog, is an author, former owner of restaurants and international consultant to hotels and restaurants, made the arrangements for our visit through Terre del Principe’s importer.
This tired group of tourists was warmly greeted by the owners of Terre del Principe, Manuela Piancastelli and Peppe Mancini. They provided us a tour of their vineyards, hosted a wine tasting and treated us to a five course lunch. We experienced food, wine and hospitality that we had never experienced. Manuela’s and Peppe’s generosity epitomizes what we have referred to as “Southern Hospitality”.
In each of the past five years we have visited Manuela and Peppe. We celebrated my mother’s 85th birthday at Terre del Principe. We have brought and sent friends and other family members to Terre del Principe and every visit has been a fabulous experience.
Manuela and Peppe produce wines from three obscure grapes (two red and one white) grown only in the small section of Caserta where their winery is located. The red grapes are pallagrello nero and casavecchia. The white grape is pallagrello bianco. These grapes were nearly extinct and had not been used in the production of wines for nearly a century until Peppe and Manuela “rediscovered” the grapes and starting producing wine from these grapes at a different winery of which they were part owner. In 2003 they established Terre del Principe. Pictured to the left is their cellar which is in a building that is over 700 years old and located in the town center of Castel Campagnano.
Terre del Principe wines have received many awards from prestigious guides and reviewers. I would encourage the reader to try all the wines. Please check out the wines at Terre del Principe’s website, http://www.terredelprincipe.com. My family members have favorites. For example, my mother who is in the photo (on top) with Manuela prefers Vigna Piancatelli, a 70%-30% blend of the pallagrello nero and casavecchia grapes. It is a full body red that pares well with red meats and sauce. On the other hand, my brother John, a white wine drinker prefers Le Serole, a wine made with 100% with pallagrello bianco grapes. I encourage the reader to share with me which of Terre del Principe’s wines you prefer.
