Visit the Campania Wine Region: 11 Wines and Appellations to Know

The 11 best wines and appellations to discover in Campania

The wine map here reads grape by grape rather than town by town: each variety has its own DOCG or DOC, its own slope, and its own place at the table. Here’s what to taste and where.

1. Taurasi DOCG (Aglianico)

Taurasi is Campania’s most serious red, made entirely from Aglianico grown on the volcanic and clay hills around the town of Taurasi itself, east of Avellino. Expect a deep garnet color, firm tannin, dark cherry and leather notes, and enough structure to age for a decade. Producers like Mastroberardino, who helped preserve the grape through the 20th century, pour it at cellar tastings from around 20-30 euros. Riserva bottlings need at least four years of aging before release, three of them in barrel.

2. Aglianico del Taburno DOCG

West of Benevento, the Taburno hills give Aglianico a slightly softer, more approachable profile than Taurasi: still tannic, but with riper red fruit and a touch less austerity. Tastings at estates around Sant’Agata dei Goti or Torrecuso typically run 15-25 euros for a flight of three to four wines. It’s the DOCG to try if you want to understand this grape’s range without committing to Taurasi’s full intensity.

3. Greco di Tufo DOCG

Tufo, west of Taurasi, gives its name to this white made from the Greco grape on sulfur-rich volcanic soil. The wine is dry, high in acidity, with citrus, almond and a faint flinty edge that locals call “smoky.” Feudi di San Gregorio, based nearby, is one of the producers that put this appellation on international wine lists; tastings here average 20-35 euros. It’s widely considered the region’s most age-worthy white.

4. Fiano di Avellino DOCG

Around Avellino, Fiano ripens into a rounder, more aromatic white than Greco: notes of hazelnut, honey and white flowers, with enough acidity to stay fresh. Many estates in the Irpinia hills offer tastings alongside Greco di Tufo for around 20-30 euros, since the two DOCGs share the same growing zone. It’s the variety wine writers most often point to when arguing Campania’s whites rival its reds.

5. Falanghina del Sannio

Grown widely around Benevento, Falanghina makes a lighter, more immediately drinkable white than Fiano or Greco: green apple, pear, a light floral lift, best served well chilled. It’s the everyday white here, and tastings at estates near Benevento rarely exceed 15-20 euros. If you’re building a first-timer’s flight, this is the easiest entry point.

6. Piedirosso

Often blended with Aglianico but increasingly bottled alone, Piedirosso (“red foot,” named for its reddish stems) gives a lighter-bodied red with cherry and herbal notes and softer tannin, grown on Vesuvius’ slopes and around the Phlegraean Fields. It pairs particularly well with Neapolitan street food and buffalo mozzarella dishes. Tastings that include this grape alongside Aglianico usually run 20-25 euros.

7. Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio

Grown directly on Vesuvius’ volcanic slopes, Lacryma Christi comes in white (mostly Coda di Volpe and Falanghina) and red (Piedirosso and Aglianico) versions, both marked by the mineral edge of tuff soil. The white leans citrusy and saline; the red stays light and food-friendly. Small producers near the volcano pour it for 15-25 euros, often with views over the Gulf of Naples and the Tyrrhenian Sea included.

8. Costa d’Amalfi DOC

On the terraced slopes above the Amalfi Coast, small plots of Falanghina, Biancolella and Piedirosso produce some of Italy’s most dramatic-looking vineyards, farmed by hand on near-vertical terraces. The wines are typically light, saline and citrus-driven, reflecting the sea air as much as the volcanic-clay soil. These bottles rarely leave the region, which makes tasting them locally worthwhile; a wine tasting positano session often includes this DOC alongside coastal views toward Capri.

9. Falerno del Massico

North of Naples near the Lazio border, Falerno del Massico makes both a structured red from Aglianico and Piedirosso and a less common white from Falanghina, on volcanic soil close to the coast. Pliny the Elder reportedly rated the ancient version of this wine among Rome’s finest, and today’s bottlings still show dense dark fruit and firm tannin in the reds. Estate visits here are less touristed than Irpinia, with tastings around 20-30 euros.

10. Coda di Volpe

Named for its tail-shaped bunches (“fox’s tail”), Coda di Volpe is an old white grape often blended into Lacryma Christi but also bottled alone: soft acidity, notes of ripe pear and almond, medium body. It’s a good contrast to the higher-acid Fiano and Greco, and worth asking for specifically at estates around Vesuvius or Avellino.

11. Irpinia DOC (the region’s catch-all)

Irpinia DOC covers the hills around Avellino for wines that don’t fit the stricter DOCG rules, often from the same Fiano, Greco, Aglianico and Coda di Volpe grapes at a more everyday price point. It’s a useful category for producers experimenting with single-vineyard bottlings or unusual blends, and tastings here tend to be the most affordable around, often under 20 euros.

Aglianico’s name likely traces back to “Hellenico,” a nod to the Greek vines first planted here; Greco carries the same Greek imprint in its very name.