While the spotlight on the wines of Campania, Italy has historically shone on Falanghina, Fiano, and Greco di Tufo, Coda di Volpe is easy to overlook. Get to know this dynamic white wine with a favorite Italian roast chicken.
The meaning of Coda di Volpe
"Coda di volpe" translates to "fox's tail." The name comes from the shape of the grape cluster, which curves and tapers just like a curly fox tail. It's has grown in Campania since at least Roman times. Pliny the Elder reportedly mentioned a grape matching this description almost 2,000 years ago.
Coda di Volpe is also the name of an Italian restaurant in Chicago that focuses on the regional food of Campania.
Where It Grows
Coda di Volpe is planted mainly around Naples and the volcanic soils of Campania, including the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. It is sold as a single varietal wine, sometimes as a sparkling wine, and as a partner in blended wines. It is one of the grapes permitted in the histoirca Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio DOC.
A Producer Worth Seeking Out: Vadiaperti
Vadiaperti, a family estate in Irpinia, has been bottling coda di volpe for over 40 years. The operation is small, with just about 10 hectares and 80,000 bottles, and has been passed down through four generations, with each one adding something new.
The family's great-grandfather grew the grapes, while the grandmother sold them to other wine producers. With decades of hands on knowledge of the land and vineyard, she became the self taught oenologist of the family.
The father, a teacher of history and philosophy by trade, decided in 1964 to stop selling grapes and start bottling wine instead. He planted Fiano first, then Greco di Tufo, and finally Coda di Volpe. The current generation, winemaker Raffaele Troisi, studied chemistry and now blends that formal training with lessons learned from his grandmother's terroir intelligence.
According to the family, Coda di Volpe shouldn't be overly fruity but rather balanced with fruit and some mineral and a little gunpowder.
Because the variety isn't naturally aromatic or fruit-forward like Fiano, it tends to show soil and terroir more directly. Locally, it's the more popular and requested grape in the family's own town.
Irpinia is a landlocked region but close enough to the sea to still feel its influence, and it still gets snow most winters followed by hot summers. The vast temperature swings between the seasons are what gives their Coda di Volpe character.
Torama flasghip wine
Their flagship bottling of Coda di Volpe, 'Torama,' refers to the soil it comes from, a high draining soil highly draining soil composed of sandstones and molasse that allow the old vine roots to run deep. The resulting wine is more concentrated and intense without becoming heavy, and it retains freshness even a couple of years further into aging than the classic bottling would show.
Tasting Notes
Vadiaperti 'Torama' Coda di Volpe
Appellation: DOC, 100% Coda di Volpe, Vine Age: 60-70 years, 13% alcohol
Visual: Straw, a bale of hay in the sun, glows a little bit like a copper penny.
Aroma: Subtle like fresh sliced red delicious apples, whiff of young brie, canned pears, peaches, basil, flint, fresh dew.
Taste: Not subtle. Round, bold, meaty, muscular, soft acid, candied fennel, preserved lemon. Would love food, and I might also try it with a strong cheese, fresh baked pretzels with grainy mustard, fried whitebait, a creamy chicken alfredo, or pork schnitzel with a squeeze of lemon.
The Last Drop
Try a Coda di Volpe to experience a taste of Campania and everything wonderful about southern Italy.
To learn more about Italian wines paired with cozy fall dishes, check out these posts from the #italianfwt writers:
- Our Good Life: Apple Picking in Italy: An Easy Fall Apple Cake Recipe
- Vino Travels: Chicken Sausage Pasta with Bardolino
- Wineivore: Coda di Volpe Paired with Chicken Under a Brick
- Day in the Life on the Farm: Dreaming of Fall in Piedmont
- Culinary Cam: Embracing Autumn: A Mediterranean Noir, Spaghetti all'Assassina, and Two Bottles of Negroamaro
Wendy M. Klik says
This is my first introduction to Coda di Volpe. Unfortunately, I can't find a bottle at my local Total Wine. I will have to see if I can get a bottle from WSJ. Thanks for the review. I hope I can try it.
Cam Mann says
If you can find a Lacryma Christi , that often includes Coda di Volpe.