A taste of Terroir: The Italian South

It’s easy to forget sometimes, but southern Italy is built around violent, active volcanoes. The tumultuous movements of the Earth beneath the fragile surface we live on is in direct contact with the region, and while this brings destruction, it also brings fertility. Beauty. Wealth.

In Naples, the volcanic activities of Vesuvius carry on regardless, and as plumes of steam, ash and gases flare from its peak, locals continue their day. For the vines, millions of years of this activity has led to some of the most nutrient dense soil it’s possible to find—as volcanic ash degrades and dissolves in rain, its minerals are released. Fresh ash clears a path, giving new life space to grow. It’s a beautiful cycle. The same happens in Sicily, with Mount Etna. The fertile fields surrounding this pyramid of ash and smoke belie the real danger of living so close to a fissure in the earth’s crust—it all just looks so green. And that’s what the grapes like about it here too. Deep, deep down in the volcanic soil there are minerals beyond which they could ever find in sand or chalk, and water held captive beneath the surface that they need to survive the hot summers.

It is hot in southern Italy, at least for half of the year. Thanks to global warming, temperatures can soar to 45 degrees celsius, with Sicily recording 48 degrees celsius in 2021. Grapes need shelter from this searing heat and this is done in a number of ways: by raising the altitude of the vineyards, by changing the aspect so they receive more shade and less direct sunlight, or by growing and pruning the vines in such a way that their own leaves provide protection from the sun. It also helps to grow sun-loving grapes, and this is why the south has so many indigenous varieties to choose from. These are the grapes that were born and made here over generations. They can cope with the earthquakes and the eruptions and the melting sun, and for the winemakers who care for them, they provide delicious, unique wines that taste of the very place they come from. These proud, southern grapes.