WINES OF THE CAMPANIA REGION
There are many opportunities to sample local and regional wines in Sorrento, be it in the restaurant, the wine store, or visits to vineyards and local produce festivals. This page will give an idea of the names of the regional wines to look for in the wine lists and on the shelves. It offers no views on the wines themselves but provides the visitor with information to source and sample locally produced wine and liqueurs.

Wines
The main DOC wine producing areas in Campania are listed below and their location shown on the wine map. However, as a starting point for visitors, some of the more well known names from the region include:

Taurasi Riserva. Red
Greco di Tufo. White
Fiano di Avelino. White
Lacrima Christi (Tears of Christ). White

From Sorrento itself, the Penisola Sorrentina (DOC) area offers three subcategories of wine appellations:
Lettere, Gragnano and Sorrento.

DOC wine producing areas in Campania
Aglianico del Taburno (DOC)
Asperinio di Aversa (DOC)
Campi Flegrei Capri (DOC)
Castel San Lorenzo (DOC)
Cilento (DOC)
Costa d'Amalfi (DOC)
Falerno del Massico (DOC)
Fiano di Avellino (Apianum) (DOC)
Galluccio (DOC)
Greco di Tufo (DOC)
Guardia Sanframondi or Guardiolo (DOC)
Ischia (DOC)
Penisola Sorrentina (DOC)
Sannio (DOC)
Sant'Agata dei Goti (DOC)
Solopaca (DOC)
Taburno (DOC)
Taurasi (DOCG)
Vesuvio (DOC)
More information, such as details of the grape varieties in each wine producing area, can be found on specialist websites such as: www.winecountry.it

Liqueurs
In addition to Wines there areseveral famous liqueurs made in the Campania region. Limoncello is produced from the skin of locally grown lemons and Nucillo e Curti is a walnut infused liqueur made in the Vesuvius area. Both are regarded as having excellent digestive properties. There are also liqueurs using fruits such as oranges, mandarins, melons and strawberries. A herb based infusion from Benevento, called Strega, is used as a flavour for desserts or as an after dinner drink.

Wine and Liqueur tasting opportunities
Even if you are unable to visit some of the vineyards, particularly those further away from Sorrento, you should still be able to source the majority of the Regional wines and liqueurs in Sorrento itself. The Vizi & Sfizi shop on Via Fuoro offers a range of wines, liqueurs and other products. The Grotta del Vinarium on Corsa Italia is another location for a good wine selection.

There are several establishments in Sorrento where the production of Limoncello can be viewed and the results sampled. For example, I Giardini di Cataldo on Via Fuorimura, and Limonoro on Via San Cesareo. Local produce events and wine festivals also provide an opportunity to sample wine produced locally and some of these events are listed on the Calendar page under Local Festivals. The Priora Grape Festival for example which takes place in the first week of October, Priora is a small hamlet only 4km from Sorrento along the Amalfi Coast.

During the Festival look out for sparkling wine using Ambiccato which is traditionally made, by crushing the grapes by feet through cloth containers,. This is added to wine, 1 litre of Ambiccato to 25 litres of wine, and left to rest for two months at least to produce a sparkling wine.

Organised wine tasting tours are also available from half day visits to full tours of the region. In the meantime, Cin Cin !

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