Campania

In Campania the vine has very ancient origins, antecedent to the Roman era and perhaps also to the Greek one.
A tangible testimony of this link with the past is the form of farming of Etruscan origin, the suggestive tree-lined. Still used for the cultivation of Asprinio di Aversa, in the north of the region, it allows a very expanded development in height with great productivity. The vine, a unique case in the world with the exception of some areas in northern Portugal, climbs trees to incredible heights, transforming the harvest into an acrobatic test, with ladders of over 20 meters.
In the south of the region the Greek low sapling system is more used, with vigorous pruning and rather low productivity. In addition to asprinio, other more cultivated vines also have ancient origins, such as Aglianico, deriving from the Hellenic vine introduced by the Greeks, from which one of the most structured and long-lived wines of all the national production, the Taurasi, uniqueDOCGred of the region.
Two white grape varieties also have ancient origins, the Greek from Thessaly and the Fiano, probably with even more remote roots, linked to the Phoenicians. Today, both the Fiano di Avellino and the Greco di Tufo areDOCG.
Other indigenous white grape varieties are biancolella, forastera, coda di volpe and falanghina, while among the red grape varieties there are sciascinoso, casavecchia and piedirosso or per 'e palummo or foot of colombo, whose curious name derives from the shape of the racimolo , which resembles the foot of the pigeon.
Also in this region there is no shortage of vines from other Italian or foreign regions, such as Sangiovese, Aglianico, Cabernet Sauvignon and Barbera.
The overall production in 2009 was approximately 1,830,000 hl of wine, with a clear prevalence of reds.