Why it matters
The producer
The Pepe family has farmed vines in Irpinia for generations, selling wine across Italy and internationally long before Tenuta Cavalier Pepe took its current shape. Angelo Pepe built the estate into a property of 70 hectares of vineyards, 12 hectares of olive groves and hazelnut plantings, with a cellar, a panoramic restaurant and guest accommodations set within the landscape. In 1998, Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro appointed Angelo a Knight of the Republic in recognition of his work.
Angelo's eldest daughter, Milena Pepe, studied viticulture and oenology in France and marketing in Belgium before returning to lead the family estate. She now runs it. The range covers all three of Irpinia's DOCG appellations alongside the Irpinia DOC, drawing on Aglianico for the reds and Fiano, Greco, Falanghina and Coda di Volpe for the whites.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Irpinia is the inland hill country of Campania, east of Naples, where the Apennines push the vineyards to elevations that temper the southern heat. The three DOCG appellations that Tenuta Cavalier Pepe works across, Taurasi, Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo, each carry a different grape as their backbone. Taurasi is built on Aglianico, a late-ripening red variety that produces firm tannins and high acidity in this mountain climate. Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo each name both the grape and the village at the centre of the appellation. The Irpinia DOC sits beneath all three and covers a broader range of varieties and styles.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The estate farms Aglianico, Fiano, Greco, Falanghina and Coda di Volpe across its Irpinian holdings. Vineyard management emphasises limited fertilisation, monitored yields, rational soil care, and agriculture tools including biodegradable sensors and weather stations. Grapes are picked by hand into 18-kilogram boxes, then sorted again at the cellar before processing.
Fermentation runs almost entirely in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks, with automation used to manage alcoholic fermentation and skin maceration. For the Taurasi wines, maturation involves both 225-litre French oak barriques and 30-hectolitre French and Slavonian oak casks, with time in wood ranging from 12 to 18 months depending on the wine type and vintage. After wood ageing, the red wines move into concrete tanks, where they rest for months or years before bottling. The cellar also keeps handmade clay and ceramic amphorae for separate vinification of fruit from the estate's oldest vineyards, following what the estate describes as the oldest winemaking tradition.
Wines to know
The range in view
The red range is led by Opera Mia, the estate's Taurasi DOCG, made from 100% Aglianico. Below it sits Campi Taurasini, a Taurasi-zone red that introduces Aglianico from the same area in a format with shorter ageing. Terra del Varo is the Irpinia Aglianico DOC bottling: a blend of Aglianico and Merlot, fermented with around ten days of skin contact in steel, then matured in steel and concrete before bottling. The Merlot moderates the Aglianico's tannin, giving the wine a softer approach than the pure-Aglianico Taurasi tier.
The white range draws on Fiano for the Fiano di Avellino DOCG, a grape that produces dry whites with citrus, white flowers and a firm, persistent finish in the Avellino hills. Greco di Tufo DOCG comes from the Greco grape grown around the village of Tufo, where volcanic soils contribute a distinct mineral quality to a wine with more body and texture than the Fiano. Falanghina and Coda di Volpe appear in the broader Irpinia DOC whites, offering rounder, more aromatic styles alongside the two DOCG grapes.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Opera Mia Taurasi DOCG is the bottle to open first from this estate. It is 100% Aglianico, macerated on skins for around twenty days, aged in French oak barriques and then in concrete tanks before bottling. The wine opens with black cherry, violet and black pepper, moves through a full palate of dark fruit and firm tannin, and finishes long on plum and blackberry. It is the Aglianico of this estate in its most developed form: high acid, firm tannin, dark fruit and spice running legibly through every stage of the glass.