Il Verro
Terre del Volturno | Formicola
Il Verro is rooted in a friendship among five teenagers who met in the 1960s. Some 40 years later, they reconvened where they had spent their childhoods. Amid 14 hectares agriculture are 4 hectares reserved for vines—all wildly rare grapes indigenous to this remote reach of northern Campania. Volcanic soils have discouraged both phylloxera and replanting, gifting the region with a wealth of native grapes—casavecchia, pallagrello nero and bianco, and the ultra-rare coda di pecora. Respect for these historic varieties compel Cesar and his team to organic farming practices and a purist cellar style.
Il Verro 2018 "Sheep" Coda di Pecora
Campania is a trove of native grapes, with many still uncatalogued or lost in a sea of synonyms. Even in this context, coda di pecora stands out as among the most obscure. Il Verro is the only producer in the world to grow and bottle it as a monovarietal wine. Cesare cheekily labels his coda di pecora as “Sheep”. “Its name derives from the shape of the cluster, which resembles the tail of a sheep,” he notes. “After many years of confusion between coda di pecora and coda di volpe (tail of the fox), in 2005 we performed a DNA examination that certified the grape’s individuality and initiated the procedure for registration among the vines officially recognized by the Italian authorities. Precisely because this procedure has not been completed, the name of the vine may not appear on the label. Hence, Sheep.” Sheep was the first Il Verro wine to be spontaneously fermented, starting in 2018. It is fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel and raised in tank a further 6 months before bottling.
- 2018
- Coda di Pecora
- Italy
- Compania
- Terre del Volturno
- Biodynamic
- Volcanic, sand
- 6 months stainless steel
- Stainless steel
- 1.2
- 750 ml
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