In Campania, the grapevine has very ancient origins, predating the Roman and possibly even the Greek era.
Tangible evidence of this link with the past is the form of cultivation of Etruscan origin, the suggestive alberata. Still used for the cultivation of Asprinio di Aversa, in the North of Campania, it allows a very expansive growth in height with great productivity. The vine, a unique case in the world with the exception of a few areas in the North of Portugal, climbs the trees to incredible heights, turning the grape harvest into an acrobatic test, with ladders of over 20 metres.
In the South of the region, the Greek low bush system is more widely used, with vigorous pruning and rather low productivity. In addition to Asprinio, other more cultivated vines have ancient origins, such as Aglianico, derived from the Hellenic vine introduced by the Greeks, from which one of the most structured and long-lived wines of the entire national production is obtained, Taurasi, the only red DOCG in the region.
Two white grape varieties also have ancient origins, the Greek coming from Thessaly and Fiano, probably with even more remote roots linked to the Phoenicians. Today, both Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo are DOCG.
Other indigenous white grape varieties are biancolella, forastera, coda di volpe and falanghina, while red grape varieties include sciascinoso, casavecchia and piedirosso or per' e palummo or piede di colombo, whose curious name derives from the shape of the racimolo, which resembles the pigeon's foot.
Also in this region, there is no lack of grape varieties from other Italian or foreign regions, such as sangiovese, aglianico, cabernet sauvignon and barbera.
Total production in 2009 was around 1,830,000 hl of wine, with a clear predominance of reds.