Whites from black grapes: 5 wines between Campania and Basilicata

As unusual as it may seem, making a white wine from red grapes is neither strange nor difficult: just separate the must from the skins (where the coloring substances reside). We propose 5 labels from the South, between Campania and Basilicata.

Intense, structured and endowed with a unique flavor profile, still white wines made from red grapes are a popular type and increasingly present in the range of wineries. They are obtained from the vinification of red grapes, normally used for the production of red wines, by applying the “white fermentation” technique that involves the Separation of the must from the skins, without maceration.

Let’s start with a basic assumption: all grapes, both red and white, have white flesh and it is the skin that contains anthocyanins, the pigments responsible for the color released during the crushing of the berries. The longer the must is in contact with the berry skin, the more color the wine will take.

From Campania, Irpinia and Monte Massico.

In Campania, the first to have experimented with white winemaking from red grapes was Antonio Mastroberardino in the 1990s, and then the project took shape with his son Piero in 2013 with the production of the wine Neroametà, the blanc de noirs from Aglianico grapes. A charismatic white, where the strength of the Aglianico is tempered by freshness and savoriness. Grapes from the more clayey area of the Mirabella Eclano estate are from a vineyard designed for a white, with lower planting density, less severe yields and less drastic thinning. All for less rich, but more acidic and fragrant berries.

This also happens in the area of the Falerno del Massico, on the slopes of Mount Massico, where the Cantina Trabucco, now led by Danilo Trabucco, a young winemaker, employs some of the Primitivo grapes from the vineyard facing further north to produce Paradox, a wine of substance, broad and eccentric, where brackish, fruit and iodine notes trace its interesting identikit.

Returning to Irpinia, Uxor of Terre Coppola is also made from Aglianico grapes, from a vineyard in Castelvenere sul Calore at about 750 meters above sea level. A high altitude wine that comes from rows of a handkerchief of land that is often snow-covered during the winter, giving a rich aromatic heritage to the grapes and a well-presented acidity for an authentic and enjoyable sip.

From Basilicata, Vulture to be exact.

The historical company Martino on the volcanic soils of the Vulture, the ancient extinct volcano, produces long-lived wines from Aglianico grapes. For the past few years he has been making white wine from the native red variety, obtaining interesting results. The label Sincerity has the soul of a red and the color of white, recalling in its smoky undertones and rich savoriness its geographical origin.

From 100% Aglianico grapes in the Vulture,Cantine Madonna delle Grazie, a winery dedicated to the production of different expressions of Doc Aglianico del Vulture, from old vines rooted in volcanic soils produces the blanc de noir Leucònoe, a wine with personality where acidity, sapidity and persistence coexist in harmony.