Three generations live on in the heart and passion of Sara Carusone, whose smile glimmers like her beloved Rosato. “It was fate that I would discover this passion. I fell in love with the story of Pallagrello out of nowhere while discussing my thesis in His- tory of the Mezzogiorno on the wine history of Terra di Lavoro. After graduating, I felt a powerful desire to get my hands dirty and get involved. Among these vineyards I have found my place in the world and I am moved when I talk about it. La Masserie - which can be pronounced in both French and Neapolitan - is a slice of authentic Campania Felix. And Sara transmits joy, happiness and contentment like her wines which perfectly match the labels designed by artist Bruno Donzelli. “Veritas, an elegant and sweet rosé from Casavecchia, delicate and silent, is the wine I feel most my own. I am thrilled by its pleasant ever-changing complexity. I love Pallagrello and Casavecchia as much as I do my land.” 

In the hermitage overlooking the dense woods above Castel Campagnano, amidst olive trees and shady oaks, mother Adele entrusts the flowers of the locust tree to the boiling olive oil. The meal based on vegetables is served on a wooden table, overlooking wild views: sage fritters, pasta and chickpeas with chard and salted anchovy, savoy cabbage rolls in red cabbage leaves, wild broccoli meatballs, stuffed onions. You eat above the vegetable garden where herbs, peas, broad beans, onions, salad, artichokes and wild chicory are grown, in the shade of the old house with its original floor and oven. “When I arrived here 20 years ago in search of a soul place, it was a ruin with trees growing inside”. She was advised to turn it into a Hollywood-style house, but in actual fact it became a kingdom of silence. There is also a cellar built for enigmatic reasons by her dad Carmine, an All Blacks super-fan.

In the 1960s at the farmstead I Cacciagalli, not far from the emanations of the Roccamonfina volcano, grandfather Florestano uprooted native vines in order to plant international grape varieties. The decision was dictated by economics: at that time, the core business was selling grapes. When his granddaughter Diana, an agronomist, took over the family business 20 years ago, she decided to go back to her roots. She uprooted her grandfather’s vines in order to privilege terroir. “We wanted to make a new start from the vines that identify our land. The whites Fiano and Falanghina, and the reds Aglianico, Piedirosso and Pallagrello Nero.”

The soul of the Matese, a passion for their land, the implementation of ideas and skills with a contemporary vision and the aim of making agricultural activity economically sustainable. This is the project that Giandomenico D’Ambrosio, Domenico D’Orsi and Matteo Cinquedita have called Terre dell’Angelo. The first step was the recovery of the olive tree, symbol of ancient agricultural heritage, and then the rediscovery of native vines such as Pallagrello and Casavecchia. Green manuring with a scientific method, maniacal care when harvesting, rigorous processing and vinification in amphorae to ensure excellent oxygenation while avoiding contamination of the wine with tannins from the wood: these are the salient points of a work that results in highly distinctive wines. Deep local roots are represented on labels whose colours are those of the frescoes in the cave of Saint Michael of Alife, a rock sanctuary dedicated to the cult of Saint Michael. Essential shapes and colours…

The Alois family, historically linked to the valuable textile production in San Leucio, has been a reference point in wine produc- tion since 1992, thanks to Michele, dedicating itself to the rediscovery of ancient native vines near a nineteenth-century Bourbon farmhouse. A splendid location with three vineyards set in the harmonious landscape of Pontelatone: Audelino, Cesone and Morrone-Casalicchio. The Alois mis- sion is well explained by Massimo who sees the micro zones as the perfect expression of the diversities that characterise this territory blessed with both limestone and volcanic soul: “Our project focuses on a genotype-environment study in relation to the different types of soil in order to optimise the production of Casavecchia and Pallagrello.” The maximum expression of the company philosophy are the three crus: Morrone (Pallagrello Bianco) fresh and with a marked sapidity; and Murella (Pallagrello Nero) from the Casalicchio vineyard; and then the Trebulanum…

We are a stone’s throw from the confluence of the Calore and Volturno rivers, a place of powerful energy, just like Davide Cam- pagnano’s character and story. “Knowing, preserving and developing the roots of a peasant family are the passions that my grandmother Filomena passed on to me.” After graduating in Agricultural Sciences, Davide devoted himself to the family land and concentrated on making wine. Here Davide produces Pallagrello Bianco and Nero, Barbera del Sannio, some Fiano and the delicious Pizzutiello, “which we call Nativo because it does not yet exist as a catalogued species”. The production is beyond organic because the company philosophy is to generate resistance inductors that naturally stimulate defence of the plant. Vinification in steel and fermentation with indigenous yeasts to safeguard the identity of a wine that must represent the local territory when poured. Direct sales on the farm, tastings in the vineyards or in the cellar directly from the…

The hills that overlap like waves between Caiazzo and Alvignano are a triumph of bi- odiversity where the presence of vineyards alternates with areas of scrub and arable land. In the locality of Spinosa, with its stony and clayey soil, brothers Raffaele and Bonaventura Tralice spotted the right place for quality wine production: “It wasn’t easy to transform the hostile land into gentle vineyards”, emphasises Raffaele. Two hectares are destined to the production of Pallagrello Nero and Rosato, while Pallagrello Bianco is cultivated in the Castel Campagnano area. The company philosophy aims at production that favours working in the vineyard, minimising interventions in the cellar. It all starts with the guyottrained vineyard, mechanical weeding, oxygenation of the soil and fertilisation with products that respect nature. A very particular microclimate characterised by accentuated thermal excursions guarantees the ideal conditions for quality grapes and wines.

While waiting for Alice, who is one year and one month old, to take over, Cesare and Monica are running the winery set up seven years ago on the edge of the three-hectare vineyard. It took the place of the farmstead owned by Antonio Melillo, Cesare’s great-grandfather. On the paving of the courtyard, where the cows and barn once stood, there is a foundation stone with the year and initials, M.A. 1934. The newlyweds started from scratch. They put their identity and sweat into it. This is not far from Monticelli, where the sweet wine Pallagrello that intoxicated King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon was made. Rivers of this wine flowed during court feasts.

The road that leads from Caiazzo to Castel Campagnano is a journey into beauty. This is where the Piccirillo family farm is located. Here, in addition to the legendary Sunday lunches with Zero-cm products, visitors also drink very well. Carmine, passionate grower and maker of Pallagrello and Casavecchia along with his wife Claudia, does the honours; they are Giovanni’s parents, it was Giovanni who transformed the Beati Colli winery into a place of skilful creativity after graduating in oenology in Avellino and specialising at the Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin in Bordeaux. His degree thesis on “the aptitude of the Pallagrello Bianco grape to become a sparkling wine” would be the inspiration for his work of art: Prima Gioia, the first pure Pallagrello bianco sparkling brut wine, obtained with the classic method and refined for 26 months. It was 2017, the consolidation of a family endeavour and the beginning of a brand-new and talented direction.