A number of trips have been organized including in Northern Italy (see description under Great Wines of Northern Italy), Campania, Tuscany and Lazio regions of Italy, and in Mexico. Below is the description of the Campania trip.
The Campania wine region is a geographically complex area south of Rome, leading inland from the Amalfi Coast and the Bay of Naples towards Mount Vesuvius then beyond, rising to a plateau upon which the Irpinia sub-region is located at around 600m above sea level.
Although Campania accounts for less than 4% of Italy's vineyards, with 29,000ha of vines planted, the region has an extraordinary history of winemaking and produces some of Italy's finest wines. Ancient Greek settlers bought vines to Italy when they began populating the south of the country in the 8th century BCE/BC. The Romans later embraced this vinous culture; an example of these old varieties prized by the Romans, is Campania's modern-day Falerno del Massico DOC.
Today, Campania is a hotbed of indigenous varieties. The region's three DOCGs are all clustered together inland in Irpinia: the Taurasi DOCG produces some excellent reds made from Aglianico, while the Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino DOCGs produce some of the region's finest white wines. Their close proximity to the sea, despite a hillside elevation up to 600 mts, means the grapes are kept healthy by the cool air currents and they mature steadily.
