Campania and Mastroberardino. Ancient grapes from the Romans' happy land.

Irpinia, far from the Amalfi Coast

Campania is on the west coast of southern Italy, with Naples as its capital and the ruins of Pompeii in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. Most people picture sunny beaches and the Amalfi Coast, but Irpinia, the inland hill country where Mastroberardino is based, is a different world. There is even a ski slope near some of the vineyards.

The cool, mountainous climate makes this one of the last wine regions in Italy to harvest. White grapes are picked from early October and the Aglianico for Taurasi as late as mid-November. In some years autumn rain means the family makes no top red at all. The soils combine clay, limestone and volcanic ash, which the family links to a salty, mineral character in the wines.

Three ancient grapes

What makes Irpinia rare is its loyalty to very old grape families. Aglianico and Greco are thought to have come from Greece, while Fiano is seen as the great Latin grape. Each has its own appellation: Taurasi for Aglianico, Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino for the whites.

Aglianico gives dark fruit, spice, violet and an earthy, rustic edge, with strong tannins and high acidity. Fiano offers white flowers, pear and a long, toasted hazelnut finish. Greco tastes almost like biting into a fresh grape, with apricot, peach and a gently bitter almond finish.

Ten generations in one village

Piero Mastroberardino represents the tenth generation in the same village and house, rebuilt more than once in a seismic area. His great-grandfather Angelo began exporting in 1878, traveling for months at a time to bring the wines to Europe and the Americas. After the Second World War the business lay in ruins, and Piero's father Antonio rebuilt it, reopening foreign markets starting with London.

Antonio's great decision was to stay with native grapes when many neighbors planted international varieties. Hugh Johnson called him the archaeologist of grape and wine, and writer Burton Anderson remembers him as humble, studious and without competition. See how Piero honored his father on a special vintage of Radici Riserva, the single vineyard Taurasi considered the benchmark of the region.

Vineyards in Pompeii

Antonio's other dream was to bring vines back to Pompeii. Inside the archaeological site, the family has replanted vineyards exactly where Roman vineyards once grew, at the same high density of around 8,800 vines per hectare. Find out why the Romans planted so closely, and how wine bars lined the main street to the amphitheater.

Back in Irpinia, the episode shows the family's lab, where soil mapping of each parcel lets them intervene only where needed, a key part of their approach to sustainability.

Piero insists that wine is neither just nature nor just man, but both together. After the 1980 earthquake destroyed the old cellar, the family had to build a new winery, and the film shows how science now works alongside the craft, from routine analysis to experiments with lees stirring.

Wines that age for a century

Long life is the signature of this terroir. The family cellar holds Taurasi bottles going back a century that still show the fruit of the grape, and vertical tastings of Fiano di Avellino stretch back 40 years. Watch to learn how a vertical tasting works and why a 1960s wine can sometimes taste younger than one from the 1990s.

The film ends with the next generation. Piero's daughter Camilla shares her memories of the cellar, and a lesson from her grandfather about who people remember in a race.

Go furtherWant to taste along? Find Mastroberardino’s wines and where to buy them near you on Wine-Searcher.