Greco di Tufo Wine Guide

Greco di Tufo is one of the greatest vines of Campania, so ancient that it has been cultivated in what was once the Magna Graecia for more than 2000 years. The first settlers who arrived from Thessaly on the coasts of Campania brought with them this vigorous vine to Campania. During the Roman age, Greco was a super trendy wine and became one of the most appreciated wines of the Empire.

The reason for this millennial success is quickly explained: Greco wine is a warm, sumptuous, structured wine, sometimes rebellious, but endowed with personality and great depth. The classic aromas of Greco di Tufo are intense: peach, quince, almonds, honey, and yellow flowers. It is a sumptuous wine, even elegant, but don’t expect a subtle wine! Yes, there are mineral suggestions, it is a rainbow of flavors, but it is quite overbearing, yet this does not mean that it is not a great wine.

Production areas of the Greco wine

We have always talked about Greco di Tufo, because the election area is Tufo, but it has always been cultivated around Vesuvius, in the Benevento area, Santa Paolina, Puglia, and Calabria too. The vine (and the wine) is called simply Greco or Greco Bianco (white).

Greco: a sunny wine

On the palate, Greco is salty, sharp, very broad, structured. It has thickness and alcohol, it beats hard, it is a difficult wine to tame, a bit bulky. And often aging it in wood does nothing but distort an exuberant vitality not easy to contain.

Let’s face it, Greco di Tufo is a splendid wine and there are amazing bottles in the whole area of ​​Avellino, but to find excellent bottles you will have to uncork a lot. Thanks to heaven, nowadays there are no more rustic and hyper-acid wines of the past. The skill of Campania’s winemakers improves year after year, even if it’s hard to find stylistic cleanliness, without renouncing the typicality of wine. Consider that Greco, in addition to having a considerable acidity, is a wine prone to oxidize very easily.

Greco di Tufo bouquet

Warm and enveloping nose with honey, yellow flowers, pears and then unmistakable mineral hints. The ones that will make you recognize it are apricot, hawthorn, almond, and quince. The aromas are intense and full, it is not a shy wine.

What does Greco di Tufo taste like?

In the mouth, it is sapid, very structured and shows strength and thundering acidity. The persistence is excellent, the balance difficult to find, but when it is done well, despite being alcoholic, it is a sunny wine with a myriad of flavors that intertwine in an irresistible symphony, especially when paired with fish dishes or Thai dishes with coconut milk.

How much does Greco di Tufo cost?

You will rarely find aged bottles over 30-40 euros. The ideal price range is from 10 to 25 euros. Greco should be drunk in the first years of life, then the risk oxidation is a variable to be taken into account.

Greco food pairings

Fish, sushi, all the pasta dishes with shellfish, seafood. With risottos, cheeses and pasta al pesto. Try Greco with white pizza with scamorza cheese and zucchini. White meat, pork and onion soup, parmigiana ravioli, spaghetti with clams, chicken tikka masala, Chicken Cacciatore, Vitello Tonnato, truffle risotto, pasta alla carbonara: apart from red meat, you can match any dish with Greco di Tufo.