Rome's grand cru. Falernian, the most celebrated wine of the empire, grew on these hills north of Naples, praised by poets and hoarded by emperors; in Pompeii, tavern walls still carry painted price lists for wine by the cup. The volcanic soils of Vesuvius and the Campi Flegrei later offered a partial defence against phylloxera, preserving pockets of very old vines.
When the twentieth century demanded volume, the house of Mastroberardino held instead to the ancient natives — aglianico, fiano, greco — keeping them in production until the world came back to them, and even replanted vineyards inside Pompeii for the archaeologists. Today Irpinia's cool limestone hills give some of southern Italy's longest-lived reds and most mineral whites.