The History of Taurasi

Aglianico di Taurasi , from which the Taurasi DOCG (Controlled and Guaranteed Denomination of Origin) derives , Cultivated in the heart of Irpinia, or the province of Avellino, where it embraces a series of hills or foothills.

Taurasi is vinified, as per the regulations, in 17 municipalities: Taurasi, Bonito, Castelfranci, Castelvetere sul Calore, Fontanarosa, Lapio, Luogosano, Mirabella Eclano, Montefalcione, Montemarano, Montemiletto, Paternopoli, Pietradefusi, Sant'Angelo all'Esca, San Mango sul Calore, Torre Le Nocelle and Venticano.

To be regulated, the Taurasi DOCG goes on the market after 3 years. Some wineries prefer to release their Taurasi on the market 4 to 10 years after the harvest; just for perfect conservation in the cellar. Taurasi is a fine and long-lived wine.

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The western one is characterized by the presence and prevalence of various colored clays in the territories of Venticano and Pietradefusi; of those same clays and calcarenites, in those of Montemiletto and Torre le Nocelle: in the latter, the Ignimbrite Campana is also present. Varicoloured clays, with stone interlayers, variously extensive and powerful, characterize the territories of Lapio and Montefalcione, in correspondence with which there is "overlapping" with the Fiano di Avellino area.

In the eastern sector, there are polygenic conglomerates, with sandy and sandy-clayey intercalations, with local debris covers, the typical lithology of the Luogosano and Paternopoli areas. Lightly cemented sandstones, with conglomerate horizons at the base and calcarenitic, arenaceous and pelitic intercalations, at various levels, outcrop in the territories of S. Mango sul Calore, Castelvetere sul Calore, Montemarano and Castelfranci.

The northeastern sector embraces the territory of Bonito, within which they are present
lightly cemented sandstones and clayey sands and sands and sandstones with pudding levels; those of Mirabella Eclano and S. Angelo all'Esca see the emergence of sands and sandstones with levels of pudding: the various colored clays are a subordinate "element" in the first; eluvial blankets mixed with volcanic elements sensu lato, very altered, cover, with various extensions, the second. In the Fontanarosa area, sandstones and clayey sands emerge on top of the variegated clays; in that of Taurasi, the mudstones themselves show coverings, even very extensive, of ash and lapillose deposits, as well as eluvium mixed with volcanic elements sensu lato, very altered.

Climate
The climate is typical of inland areas, characterized by strong temperature variations and low rainfall. The thermal, hydrometric and anemometric conditions that characterize the area are almost ideal for a maturation process characterized by gradualness and balance between sugar content and acidity, allowing the achievement of fine wine productions.

This favorable situation is clearly due to the geographical position and topography of the territory. The climatic trend both in terms of heat and precipitation is strongly influenced by the numerous hectares of forest that cover the mountains which characterize the surrounding environment and which discourage overheating. In general, the winter climate is harsh, there are not infrequently snowy precipitations, as the summer climate is rather mild.


Taurasi is the wine of an area with a great winemaking tradition, which includes 17 municipalities of Irpinia that make up the production area, but the millenary living source of the intimate socio-economic union established since ancient times between the earth, the wine and the man in Irpinia. Excellent fruit of a perfect blend of unique and non-repeatable ingredients: the land, the climate and the grapes of the lush Aglianico vineyards located on the splendid Irpinia hills, between 400 and 700 meters above sea level, the high quality of the Taurasi productions and their diversification, according to the terroirs of origin of the individual wines, offers the consumer a wide but difficult choice of qualitative excellence. Inextricably linked to the natural environment of origin, which dictates its nature, and to the human environment which imprints it in unique quality wines, Taurasi plays an important role in the ambit of tangible goods, expression of that environmental character which is present in it. it condenses and becomes explicit: a symbol of security, an expressive refuge from the roughness of an infertile natural environment and always capable of evoking feelings of mystery and fear. Testimony of the constant presence of the vine as an economic sustenance of the local populations is given by the bibliography which deals with the social and economic evolution of the area in the period between the Middle Ages and the nineteenth century. In the 19th century the winemaking activity of the entire province, with a production of more than one million hectoliters widely exported, and of the TAURASI area, were the economic backbone of the agricultural economy of the years and of the social fabric so as to bring to the construction of the first railway in Irpinia, shortly thereafter properly called "wine railway", which connected the best and largest wine production centers of the Colline del Sabato and Colline del Calore directly with the major Italian and European markets. In particular, in the production area, still today, there are the stations of Taurasi and Lapio.

The establishment of the Royal School of Viticulture & Oenology of Avellino contributes to making the area one of the most important Italian winegrowing centres, which will be responsible for the dissemination of numerous scientific observations on TAURASI wine.
The presence of the School, as a driving force of socio-economic progress, will lead the Avellino wine chain to become one of the first Italian provinces for the production and export of wine, mainly to France, as the sources show.

Taurasi DOCG: ten wines of extreme quality and longevity to taste - la Repubblica


historical factors

Of fundamental importance are the historical-anthropological factors linked to the production area, which by consolidated tradition have contributed to obtaining the TAURASI wine. Aglianico di Taurasi, an extremely ancient vine, probably originally from Greece, was introduced in Italy around the 7th-6th century BC. There are no certainties about the origins of the name, which could date back to the ancient city of Elea (Eleanico), on the Tyrrhenian coast of Lucania, or be more simply a distortion of the word Ellenico according to which the original name (Elleanico or Ellenico) became Aglianico during the Aragonese domination during the fifteenth century, due to the double l pronounced in Spanish phonetic use. The name of the wine originates from the historic and ancient l'arx Taurasia, one of the twenty-one countryside cities founded by the Irpinia population federated with the Samnites. The arx is not a real city, as it is
exclusively the seat of the market, a site assigned to the administration of justice, to the celebration of sacrifices, a meeting place in times of peace and a place of shelter from enemy attacks in the event of war, the inhabitants, on the other hand, live scattered in the surrounding area, grouped in the vici and in the pagi, which correspond to the current hamlets and farmhouses, connected by numerous roads, which populate the Calore hills and which are, still today, the current production area of ​​Taurasi.

Taurasi is the hub of significant historical events, destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout its history. It will be destroyed by the Romans in 268 BC and here and in the surrounding Campi Taurasini (“Ager Taurasinus”); this area, still today, is the unchanged area of ​​Campi Taurasini and corresponds to the wine production area
Taurasi.

The first known document dates back to 1167 AD in which it is mentioned that the vine cultivated in Taurasi is called by the Spaniards "Aglianica"; and it was the Spaniards who, due to their pronunciation, transformed the name of the vine Ellanico or Ellanico into Aglianico. In 1898 Strafforello wrote: "In good years the wine is very copious and much is exported to the neighboring provinces, mainly under the names of wine "Taurasio" and others. The best is harvested in the Municipalities of Taurasi”.
The modern rebirth of Taurasi dates back to the 19th century, when Irpinia wines became the support and salvation for the many wine producers in northern Italy and France, whose vineyards had been destroyed by the phylloxera scourge. In Taurasi the "Wine Railway" was so called because of the large quantity of wine that left from the port towards the north of the country and above all Bordeaux


At the end of the last century, in 1878, the foresight and great culture of Francesco De Sanctis had led to the establishment of the Agricultural Institute of Avellino with an oenological focus and this choice meant that the extraordinary varietal and technological potential was not lost, but safeguarded and valued and to this day the Institute produces expert agronomists and oenologists, who, by grafting, pruning, sulfuring the vines and personally making wine, have safeguarded a heritage
ampelographic that still today remains almost unknown.