When I think of Italian wines that I love, I think of the Northern classics — Sangiovese from Tuscany, Nebbiollo from Piemonte and Pinot Grigio from Friuli. Lately, however, I have been enthusiastic about the unique wines of Southern Italy's Campania region: red wines made from Aglianico and white wines made from Fiano de Avellino and Greco di Tufo. Campania is one of the oldest wine growing regions in the world but only recently has it been rediscovered.

During next week's Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta, the wine and food of Campania will be showcased with a guest-chef luncheon at Coyote Café, hosted by sommelier Shelley Lindgren and chef Christophe Hille. Shelly is the wine director and owner of A16, the wildly popular San Francisco restaurant that celebrates so deeply the food and wine of Campania that it is named for the Autostrada that cuts through the region.

Lindgren's reputation for seeking out Italian wines made with little-known grapes has earned her recognition as a wine pioneer. She has been named Best Wine Director in San Francisco Magazine and a Best New Sommelier in Wine & Spirits.

As Shelly writes in her book, A16 Food and Wine (Ten Speed Press), "from the moment I first started tasting Campanian wines, they have captivated me. In fact, my excitement over these wines can be all-consuming, leading me to plan overly ambitious research trips. When visiting Campania, I keep the bustling pace of Naples even in the sleepy, inland Taurasi or sunny Amalfi, because I can't curb the feeling of adventure, the sense that the next road will lead to another wine epiphany."

The wine region of Campania is rich with the romantic history of the Greeks, who knew that Campania had what it took to make wonderful wines: lots of sunshine, cool evenings, long growing seasons, limited rainfall and stressed volcanic soils.

But as recently as 1990, there was only one producer of note of Campanian wines — Mastroberardino. For most of the past century, Campania was a region whose grapes were destined for the bulk-wine market, to make vermouth or to surreptitiously bolster the wines of other regions. But today, with producers going back to their roots, there is no Italian wine region that has more potential for success.

Brought to Campania from Greece through the port of Naples by the Phoenicians nearly three thousand years ago, the main red grape from Campania is Aglianico. A medium- to thick-skinned grape that produces a medium dark red wine with high tannins, a dry peppery profile and pleasant acidity, in the hands of the right producer Aglianico makes as consistent and as noble a wine as the Barolos and Brunellos from the north.

Aglianico excels in Campania in Taurasi — a village rich in volcanic soil in the mountains of the Apennine ridge inland from Naples. Grown at a high altitude, Aglianico is a late-ripening varietal that is sometimes harvested in Taurasi as late as November. Cool nights and a long growing season give the Aglianico wines of Taurasi their complexity. It's a wine with white-pepper aromatics, dried red cherries and black-currant flavors. Taurasi wines are more high-toned than powerful, and partner well with grilled and roasted meats, game, baked pasta dishes and of course, pizza with sausage.

Not to be forgotten are Campania's white wines. Aside from the Northeast region of Friuli, Italy is not home to many white wines worth mentioning. However, on the volcanic soils of Campania, compelling white wines with savory minerality are produced from the ancient grapes of Fiano, Greco di Tufo and Falanghina — all also brought over centuries ago by the Greeks.

Fiano de Avellino has a subtle, aromatic floral nose of apples and peaches with herbal notes of basil and a hint of ash. Greco di Tufo, grown in a tufaceous volcanic soil, makes a distinctive white wine of good body and extract with almost a red tinge. Similarly, the white grape Falanghina makes a wine of medium body with firm acid backbone and pronounced body that is deserving of wider attention.

Christophe Hille, the chef of A16 from the 2004 opening through 2006 when he left to take a position as a private chef for photographer Annie Leibovitz, rejoins Shelley for the Sept. 24 luncheon and will demonstrate and serve a four-course Campanian feast at Coyote Café. Before the luncheon, at the Santa Fe School of Cooking, Hille will demonstrate how to prepare caponata and cavatelli, two of Campania's signature dishes. Pasta enthusiasts will want to watch Hille demonstrate how to make cavatelli, which will be dressed with clams, bitter greens and Calabrian chiles at the luncheon.

Lindgren will introduce the wines of Feudi di San Gregoria, one of the regions top estates. She will pour Greco di Tufo with the caponata and Fiano de Avellino with the cavatelli. Feudi di San Gregorio Serpico, the estates famous 100 percent Aclianico di Taurasi will be poured with Hille's lamb zampina (sausage) with roasted friarielli peppers and lemon. Gelato with cookies will be served with Feudi's dessert wine, Privelegio.


All wines mentioned in this article are available in Santa Fe at Susan's Fine Wine & Spirits (1001 Pen Road 984-1582, near Tiny's Restaurant & Lounge). Visit www.santafewineandchile.org for details on the Sept. 24 luncheon with chef Christophe Hille and other Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta events.

Greg O'Byrne is executive director of the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta. His column appears in Taste on the third Wednesday of every month. Questions or comments? E-mail vinevents@aol.com.