Tuscany
4 wine routes
All 4 Tuscany drives
Campania · Wine route · 1 day
Irpinia DOCG circuit Three DOCGs in one 60 km hill circuit: Fiano in Lapio, Aglianico in Taurasi, Greco in Tufo, with Avellino as the base.
60
km end to end
1
1 day
4
stops, Avellino to Tufo
Why this drive: No other Italian province packs three DOCGs into an hour of driving, and this circuit tastes all three at the source. Fiano pours in Lapio, the village standing in both the white and the red zone. Taurasi's Aglianico carries the official nickname Barolo of the south. Greco grows under Tufo's old sulphur mine. The roads climb between 300 and 700 metres, so the air is mountain air, and in late October the cellars are still pressing.
The route, drawn
See the whole road, then drive it stop by stop
The map stays with you as you read: scroll the stops and it follows, or press a marker to jump. Leg times are door to door, before the views slow you down.
Layers
The drive
Numbered stops
Estates near the route
Stop 1 of 4 · Avellino
1
Stop 1 · The consorzio's city
Avellino
ZTL city, see the driving notesProvincial capital at 348 metres, base camp for all three DOCGs.
What to taste here
- Fiano di AvellinoDOCG The city signs the white DOCG; its zone of 26 comuni starts at the ring road
- IrpiniaDOC The province-wide DOC, the label for Falanghina and young Aglianico
The Consorzio Tutela Vini d'Irpinia sits at Piazza Duomo 5. Sleep here and start early: the whole circuit is under two hours of driving.
Where to taste
Casa Vinicola Mastroberardino
View wineryAziende Agricole Feudi di San Gregorio
Booking required
Wines to Try
A few wines from the estates above.
2
Stop 2 · The village in both zones
Lapio
Hilltop village of Fiano's best slopes, inside the Taurasi zone as well.
What to taste here
- Fiano di AvellinoDOCG Lapio is Fiano's flagship village: hazelnut and smoke behind the orchard fruit
- TaurasiDOCG The same slopes fall inside the red zone too: one village, two DOCGs
Feudi di San Gregorio's Borgo San Gregorio sits at Sorbo Serpico on the way up. In Lapio itself the cellars are small and family-run: ring ahead.
Where to eat
Four courses with Feudi pairings
Borgo San Gregorio. Località Cerza Grossa at Sorbo Serpico, on the way up to Lapio; Feudi di San Gregorio's borgo, glass walls over the vines, tables booked by phone or online
3
Stop 3 · The Barolo of the south
Taurasi
The namesake village of Campania's great red, a castle at its centre.
What to taste here
- TaurasiDOCG Barolo del Sud is the official nickname; Riserva waits four years before release
- Aglianico The grape at full grip, dark and chewy, built for lamb and long cellars
The Castello Marchionale anchors the village, and cellar doors sit a few minutes' drive in every direction. Mirabella Eclano and its Roman digs at Aeclanum are ten minutes east.
Where to eat
Traditional Irpinian plates on a wine estate
Radici Resort. Località Piano Pantano at Mirabella Eclano, ten minutes on; the heart of Mastroberardino's estate vineyards
4
Stop 4 · Greco's mining village
Tufo
A small village built over old sulphur mines, name of the white DOCG.
What to taste here
- Greco di TufoDOCG Steel-sharp white off tuff and clay; the DOCG covers just eight comuni
- Greco spumante The DOCG also allows a classic-method sparkling, the village's quiet speciality
The abandoned mine buildings stand by the village and the Greco vineyards hang above them. From Tufo the road back to Avellino runs down the Sabato valley in about 20 minutes.
Where to taste
Cantina dell’Angelo
View wineryBefore you go
The practicalities
Visit prices are set by the winery and availability should be checked before travelling. Bookings open on the estate page or the provider's site.
When to go
Harvest runs into November
Aglianico is one of Italy's last harvests: Taurasi picks into late October and sometimes November, so autumn visits catch working cellars weeks after the rest of Italy has finished. The whites come off in September. Winters are genuinely cold up here, with snow most winters; late spring and September are the easy months.
Booking reality
The two big names book online
Three estates flank this circuit in our live data. Mastroberardino at Atripalda and Feudi di San Gregorio at Sorbo Serpico each take online bookings for three visit formats. Cantina dell'Angelo, in Tufo itself, lists its tasting by arrangement. Book the big two online and email the third a couple of days ahead.
Driving notes
Mountain roads, mountain weather
These are mountain roads by southern standards, and the weather behaves accordingly: the consorzio's own climate notes record cold winters with snow, so check conditions from November to March. Exit the A16 at Avellino Est for the start. The legs wind more than the map suggests, 13 km to Taurasi taking half an hour. Fill up in Avellino or Atripalda before the hills.
ZTL
Avellino gates its summer evenings
Avellino's centro storico runs a camera ZTL on summer evenings, 20:30 to 01:00, with gates on Via Nappi and Via Chiesa Conservatorio among others. Daytime driving is normal, and off-season hours change by ordinance, so read the signs at the gates. Taurasi, Lapio and Tufo have no camera gates: park on or beside the village square.
Getting a car
Collect at Naples airport
Naples Capodichino is the practical pick-up, about an hour west of Avellino via the A16. The circuit needs the car from the first morning: no public transport links the three wine villages. In Avellino, leave it outside the old-town gates on summer evenings and walk in.
Leave the driving out
Do this route with a guide
Some booking links earn italianwines.co.uk a commission. This never affects price or what we recommend.
Guided along this route
Someone drives the whole itinerary above
DOCG Wines and Local Delights in Avellino Taurasi Tasting
Discover the authentic winemaking tradition of Irpinia with an immersive experience in Taurasi. Stroll through the vineyards and learn about the unique characteristics...
3 hours
From €43
Book via
Viator
Where to sleep on the route
One estate on this road has rooms, so you can book the cellar and the bed together.
33
Before you ask
Irpinia DOCG circuit, answered
Taurasi, a red from Aglianico, and two whites: Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo. All three zones sit in the province of Avellino, and this circuit visits the namesake village of each in a single day.
The driving is 60 km and about an hour and 40 minutes, because the roads wind. With two cellar visits and lunch it fills a full day. Sleeping in Avellino keeps the start and the return short.
Book ahead. Mastroberardino and Feudi di San Gregorio both take online bookings for three visit formats each in our live data, and Cantina dell'Angelo in Tufo confirms by arrangement. Nothing here relies on walk-ups, least of all in harvest weeks.
The nickname comes from the growers themselves. Like Barolo, Taurasi is a single-grape red built to age: the law holds it back three years before release, four for Riserva, and good vintages run for decades. Aglianico's firm tannin and acidity do the ageing work Nebbiolo does up north.
Long. Greco and Fiano come off in September and early October, and Aglianico hangs on into late October and sometimes November, among the last red harvests in Italy. Autumn visitors see working cellars for two full months.
Yes, on summer evenings. The centro storico gates from 20:30 to 01:00 with cameras, on a calendar that changes by ordinance, so read the signs. Daytime driving is normal, and Taurasi, Lapio and Tufo have no gates at all.
Taurasi if you drink red, Tufo if you drink white. Lapio splits the difference: it is Fiano's flagship village and stands inside the Taurasi zone too, so its small cellars can pour both DOCGs at one table.
Take it with you
Save the 3 estates on this road as a trip
They land in a trip named after the route, in drive order. Reorder them, drop one, add a night, before you book anything.
You'll need to sign in, and we bring you straight back to this route.