Variety: Pallagrello Nero, Aglianico, and Casavecchia
Giovanni Ascione used to be a writer with a passion for wine, food, travel and life. As a contributor and critic for guides and magazines, he often got pressure from disagreeable growers because they felt he had no basis for his critiques since he had never made wine. This spurred him later in life to find vines, make wine and a new story began. Starting in 2007, Ascione slowly retrained the old vines located in the vineyard Vigna Sopra il Bosco. Left to go wild for many years, the vines of the Casavecchia varietal look more like trees. Nanni-Copé is one of my favorite producers in all of Italy. When Giovanni shows the wine at local wine fairs he is regularly the center of attention.
The main variety is Pallagrello Nero, surprisingly not Aglianico, though Aglianico is blended in. This is a wine of strong personality; the Aglianico contributes structure and acidity to the wine. Both varieties are blended with Casavecchia, a lesser known grape from centuries old ungrafted vines from the Terre del Volturno IGT.
