Since 80% of Italian immigrants came from Campania, Sicily, and the rest of Southern Italy, how did Tuscany’s Chianti get to be the image of Italian wine?
What do you think?
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I’m going to guess that Tuscany had the best publicity operation. After capturing the wine space at the first American pizzerias with those cute wicker-wrapped bottles that could double as candlesticks, Tuscany doubled down on its 700-year heritage by becoming the first designated and more-or-less regulated Italian wine region.
Southern Italy, collectively dubbed the Mezzogiorno (“Midday”) for its perceived broiling under the noonday sun, had spurred that late 19th century immigration with grinding hunger and poverty. The region remained relatively poor and lacking in respect into the 20th century.
Mount Vesuvius seen from vineyards in Campania, the Southern Italian region around Naples.
Of course wine was joyously being made in just about every Italian village, as has been the case all over Italy. But wines made in Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and their neighbors, plus the nearby islands Sicily and Sardinia, generally didn’t travel far from home.
But times change, and from the post-World War II era to the present day, improved vineyard and winery technology have come to just about every world wine region, even those not traditionally highly regarded.
What’s more, let’s not be too quick to judge those less respected areas. Bear in mind that – just to choose one example – Southern Italy’s Campania region is home to Naples, the original source of the beloved pizza that we’ve used so much Chianti to wash down. Campania is where we’ll find memorable scenes like Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii, Salerno, and the beautiful Amalfi Coast.
And Campania, like its neighbors, is making wines these days that can easily stand comparison to the rest of the world. Its Irpinia region alone, nestled in the cool Apennine foothills, is home to two excellent white wines (Greco and Fiano, and the source of today’s featured red wine, the excellent, ageworthy Aglianico.
You probably wouldn’t mistake a good Aglianico for a Chianti or Sangiovese-based Super Tuscan. Thanks to technology and changing climate, perhaps, today’s featured Mastroberardino Aglianico Irpinia is a juicy, fruity, cherry-berry treat. It’s no “fruit bomb,” though, but something more balanced and complex, full of flavor but not over-oaked, and with alcohol held to a rational 13%.
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