Wine route
Amalfi cliff and Vesuvius loop
2 days, 120 km · 7 stops
Open the driveCampania · DOC
Vesuvio DOC Lacryma Christi, the Wine Grown on Mount Vesuvius
Lacryma Christi is the wine of Vesuvius, and Vesuvio DOC is its legal name. The zone rings the volcano east of Naples across 16 towns, on black ash and lava sand. Caprettone and Coda di Volpe make the white, Piedirosso makes the red, and most bottles carry the old name Lacryma Christi rather than plain Vesuvio.
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Wines live now
£14-£20
Price range today
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UK retailers
Decode the label
What the label tells you
One denomination, 5 things it can say on the front. Colour first, then the qualifier.
On the label
Vesuvio Lacryma Christi Bianco
the volcano's white
45% or more Caprettone and Coda di Volpe
12% minimum alcohol
Caprettone and Coda di Volpe on volcanic sand: pear, yellow peach and a stony, faintly smoky finish.
In stock from £14.79 See the 2 bottles ↓On the label
Vesuvio Falanghina
the single-grape white
85% or more Falanghina
11.5% minimum alcohol
One of four single-grape wines the label allows, with Caprettone, Piedirosso and Aglianico: the Fiordilava on this shelf is one.
In stock from £16 See the 1 bottle ↓On the label
Vesuvio Lacryma Christi Rosso
the volcano's red
50% or more Piedirosso
12% minimum alcohol
Piedirosso with a little Aglianico: morello cherry, plum, ash and soft tannin, ready young.
In stock from £14.20 See the 2 bottles ↓On the label
Lacryma Christi Rosso Superiore and Riserva
the patient tier
2 years Riserva, from 1 November, part in wood
13% minimum alcohol
Lower yields, a full degree more strength, and for the Riserva two years in the cellar: none on UK shelves today.
No bottles in stock right now
On the label
Vesuvio Rosato and Spumante
the rest of the label
Tank or bottle method 12 months for the bottle method
11% minimum alcohol, 12% as Lacryma Christi
Rosato from the red blend, and sparkling in white or pink from either blend: made on the volcano, rare in Britain.
No bottles in stock right now
The boundary
Where it is
Everything on this page, the estates, the bottles, the sub-zones, sits inside this line.
Estate 1
Sorrentino
Visit →Boscotrecase · South-east slope
Book online
Denomination
Grapes Used
Caprettone
Piedirosso
Sciascinoso
Coda di Volpe
Vesuvio DOC zone
Estates you can visit Wine route in the zoneOutside the zone
One volcano and a ring of towns. The zone is the lower slopes of the Somma-Vesuvio complex east of Naples. All of Boscotrecase, Trecase and San Sebastiano al Vesuvio sit inside it. So do parts of thirteen more communes, from Torre del Greco and Ercolano on the sea side round to Somma Vesuviana and Ottaviano on the north and east. The line follows roads, the Circumvesuviana railway and commune borders, and it stops where the houses thicken towards the coast. Vines climb from the plain to about 700 metres. The ground is ash, lapilli and lava sand, rich in potassium and so free-draining that phylloxera never took hold. That is why old vines here still grow on their own roots.
Inside the zone
16
Communes
1983
DOC since
700 m
Highest vineyards
25
Wine types
10 t/ha
Maximum yield
2 years
Riserva ageing
Click or tap a pin for its estate. The numbered pins match the estate cards below.
Towns worth knowing
Boscotrecase
Trecase
San Sebastiano al Vesuvio
Terzigno
Ottaviano
Somma Vesuviana
Torre del Greco
Ercolano
Three towns sit wholly inside the line. The other thirteen, Ercolano and Portici among them, are inside only where the vines climb above the houses.
In the glass
What it tastes like, by style
One profile at a time, never blended into a single set of bars.
Pear
Peach
Liquorice
Wet stones
Cherry
Plum
Black pepper
Smoky
The disciplinare
The rules that define it
The same table on every denomination page, one row group per style here, because Vesuvio writes its rules per colour.
Grape & its role
Share of the blend
050100%
Vesuvio Bianco and Lacryma Christi Bianco
CaprettoneThe lead, with Coda di Volpeat least 45%Coda di VolpeShares the 45% floor with Caprettoneup to 100%FalanghinaLift and perfume, counted with Grecoup to 35%GrecoCounted with Falanghinaup to 35%Other whites of Naples provinceFills the balanceup to 20%
Vesuvio Rosso, Rosato and Lacryma Christi Rosso
PiedirossoThe lead: soft, smoky, ash-scentedat least 50%SciascinosoCalled Olivella here, counted with Aglianicoup to 30%AglianicoColour and grip, counted with Sciascinosoup to 30%Other reds of Naples provinceFills the balanceup to 20%
Vesuvio Falanghina and Vesuvio Caprettone
FalanghinaAlone, still or sparklingat least 85%CaprettoneAlone, still or sparklingat least 85%
Vesuvio Piedirosso and Vesuvio Aglianico
PiedirossoAlone, red or rosatoat least 85%AglianicoAlone, red or rosatoat least 85%Solid means the rules demand it. Striped means optional, up to that amount. The words on the right say the same rule.
Lacryma Christi is a promise of strength, not a place the same blends as plain Vesuvio, at 12 per cent alcohol instead of 11, and 13 for Superiore and Riserva.
Yields stop at 10 tonnes per hectare and fall to 8.5 for the Superiore and Riserva tiers.
Only the Rosso Riserva must age two years from 1 November after the harvest, part of them in wooden casks.
Made and bottled on the volcano inside the 16 communes, save for a few houses with older permits.
The vintage goes on every label the rules require the harvest year on the bottle.
Ageing and alcohol minimums per tier are in the label guide above.
Editor's cellar
Bottles to try, and what Vesuvio costs in the UK
Every live Vesuvio listing, cheapest to dearest
5 wines · 5 retailers
By style, today
Bianco
from £14.79
Rosso
from £14.20
Live prices, compared across 5 UK retailers.
Cellar doors · inside the zone
Estates you can visit
One estate inside the zone opens its doors today. A small list, honestly kept: only working cellars with confirmed visits appear here.
No estates match these filters. Clear a filter to see more.
Experiences in the Vesuvio zone
Cellar experiences here average around €115. These are the strongest fits for this page.
Tasting
Classic Wine Tasting
Sorrentino
The wine tasting of Vesuvius wines is a unique experience that allows you to discover the unique and authentic flavors of this wine region. …
2 h From €30 pp
Book via
Winedering
Tasting & tour
Vesuvius Trail
Sorrentino
The Vesuvio Tasting Journey is a tribute to our territory and our traditions; our wines will be narrated and enhanced with pairings of peasa…
2 h From €55 pp
Book via
Winedering
Tasting
Gnocchi and Tiramisu Cooking Class with Wine Tasting at Tenuta Sorrentino
Sorrentino
A veritable laboratory of taste that will allow you to discover the secret recipes of some typical Neapolitan dishes.
4 h From €120 pp
Book via
Winedering
Vintage provenance
Why there is no vintage chart
No denomination-wide vintage chart is published for Vesuvio. The consortium rates no years, and the sources that score wines here score single bottles, so quality is tracked producer by producer rather than through a maintained annata table.
Every bottle carries its vintage. Drink the white and the rosé young. The red keeps longer. Mastroberardino rates its white for five years and its Rosso for twenty. The Riserva is the one to lay down.
What to check instead
The producer: quality here is tracked estate by estate rather than year by year.
How Vesuvio is made
The white is at least 45 per cent Caprettone or Coda di Volpe, with up to 35 per cent Falanghina or Greco. The red and the rosato are at least half Piedirosso, with Sciascinoso or Aglianico up to 30 per cent. Four single-grape wines are allowed too: Falanghina, Caprettone, Piedirosso and Aglianico, each at 85 per cent or more. Lacryma Christi is the same blend held to a higher bar. Plain Vesuvio needs 11 per cent alcohol. Lacryma Christi needs 12, and the Superiore and Riserva tiers need 13. Yields stop at 10 tonnes per hectare, or 8.5 for those two upper tiers. Only the Rosso Riserva must age: two years from 1 November after the harvest, part of them in wooden casks. There are sparkling versions by tank or bottle method, a white passito from dried grapes, and a fortified white. Every bottle must show the vintage, and the wine must be made and bottled inside the zone.
In depth
Vines grew on Vesuvius before Rome did. The first Greek settlers at Ischia and Cuma planted them, and Pliny the Elder praised the wines of the mountain in the first century. The Roman villa dug up at Somma Vesuviana, built around the second century and buried by the eruption of 472, is the largest ancient winery yet found anywhere.
The name came later. The story says that a piece of heaven, torn away by Lucifer as he fell, landed in the Bay of Naples. Christ wept at the loss, and vines grew where the tears fell. Dumas, Voltaire and Marlowe all put the wine in their pages, so English readers knew the name long before the DOC existed.
The DOC arrived in 1983 and was last amended in 2025. The ground is what makes it: ash, lapilli and lava sand, rich in potassium and so loose that the vine louse phylloxera never took hold. Many old vines still grow on their own roots, and a dead one is replaced by burying a cane from its neighbour. Sea breezes cross the vineyards all day, and cool air from the Irpinia hills drops at night, which keeps the acidity fresh.
A consortium founded in 2007, and recognised by the ministry in 2015, now gathers 107 wine firms. The names to know are Mastroberardino, whose white is pure Caprettone, and Feudi di San Gregorio. On the mountain itself look for Sorrentino at Boscotrecase, Cantina del Vesuvio and Casa Setaro at Trecase, Villa Dora at Terzigno and De Falco at San Sebastiano. The white shows pear, yellow peach, liquorice and a stony finish. The red gives morello cherry, plum, pepper and a trace of ash, with tannin soft enough to drink young.
On the table
What to eat with Vesuvio
Naples' own table: the white for fried fish, mussels and mozzarella, the red for pizza, sausage and ragù. Both grow within sight of the city.
In-depth guide
Vesuvio, answered
Lacryma Christi is the traditional name for the wines of Vesuvio DOC, grown on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius east of Naples. It comes in white, red and rosé, still or sparkling, plus a passito from dried grapes, dry to sweet, and a fortified white. The rules let the name go before the place name on the label, which is why bottles read Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio.
Both. The white is built on Caprettone and Coda di Volpe and tastes of pear, peach and wet stone. The red is built on Piedirosso and tastes of morello cherry, plum and pepper. UK shops stock the two about equally, and Mastroberardino and Feudi di San Gregorio make both.
Legend. A piece of heaven fell into the Bay of Naples when Lucifer was cast out, Christ wept at the loss, and vines grew where the tears fell. The wine appears under that name in Dumas, Voltaire and Marlowe. Under the rules it simply means the same blend at higher strength: 12 per cent alcohol instead of 11.
The white must be at least 45 per cent Caprettone or Coda di Volpe, with Falanghina or Greco up to 35 per cent. The red and the rosé must be at least half Piedirosso, with Sciascinoso or Aglianico up to 30 per cent. Four single-grape versions exist too, each at 85 per cent or more: Falanghina, Caprettone, Piedirosso and Aglianico.
Drink the white and the rosé young. Mastroberardino rates its white for five years. The red keeps longer, and Mastroberardino rates its own Rosso for twenty. The Riserva, which must age two years before release, is the one to lay down. Every bottle must show its vintage, so the year is easy to check.
Whatever Naples eats. The white cuts through fried fish, mussels and a mozzarella salad. The red is soft enough for pizza and sausage, and firm enough for a Sunday ragù. Serve the white at 10 to 12°C and the red at 16 to 18°C.
All three spellings are in use, and they mean the same wine. The rules write Lacryma Christi, Mastroberardino writes Lacryma, and older English books wrote Lachryma. Lacrima is the modern Italian word for a tear. Search any of them and you reach the same bottles.
Explore more Campania
Same region only: the denominations Vesuvio drinkers reach for next.
