Indigenous grape variety · Cilento · Southern Italy
Aglianicone:
Italy's forgotten
grape variety
Ancient, rare, nearly extinct. Santostasi has been growing it in Pellare for over a century.
Indigenous grape variety · Cilento · Southern Italy
Ancient, rare, nearly extinct. Santostasi has been growing it in Pellare for over a century.
Aglianicone is an ancient black-berried grape variety native to Southern Campania, with deep roots in the Cilento hills and the hinterland of Salerno. Despite the name suggesting a direct kinship with Aglianico, recent genetic studies have established it as an autonomous variety, with only a partially overlapping genetic profile to its more famous cousin.
Its presence is documented as far back as the 18th century in the land registers of the Kingdom of Naples, where it was described as a robust, late-ripening grape well-adapted to the hot, dry clay soils of Cilento. For centuries it was the dominant red variety of the area — until the 20th century, when commercial pressures pushed it to near-extinction.
"A versatile variety capable of producing high-quality wines, with lower tannins than Aglianico and a remarkable balance between acidity and softness."
Through the 20th century, mechanisation of vineyards and the preference for more commercially recognisable varieties pushed Aglianicone to the margins. Local farmers grew it for domestic use, often blended with other varieties; commercial wineries favoured Aglianico, whose name carried greater market recognition.
By the late 1990s, Aglianicone had virtually disappeared from Campanian viticulture. Only a handful of historic family vineyards — among them Santostasi in Pellare — still held original plants, some over a century old.
The two varieties are frequently confused. Here are the main differences:
| Characteristic | Aglianicone | Aglianico |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Cilento, Southern Campania | Campania & Basilicata |
| Genetics | Autonomous variety | Distinct variety |
| Tannins | Medium, silky | High, austere |
| Acidity | Well-integrated | Pronounced |
| Drinkability | More approachable young | Requires long ageing |
| Availability | Extremely rare | Widespread (Taurasi, Aglianico del Vulture) |
Aglianicone in its pure form shows a ruby-red colour with violet hints. The nose is elegant — ripe red fruits (cherry, blackberry), floral notes of violet and dried rose, with gentle spice in the background. Oak-aged versions develop complexity with hints of cocoa, vanilla and sweet tobacco.
On the palate it is balanced and medium-bodied: silky tannins, well-integrated acidity, long finish with spiced persistence. Its most distinctive trait is immediate drinkability — rare among Southern Italian reds, which typically demand years of cellaring.
The Santostasi vineyard is located in Pellare, a small hamlet in the Cilento hills at 550 metres above sea level, in the province of Salerno. The vines were planted by Lorenzo Santostasi's great-grandfather in the early 1900s, when Aglianicone was still the dominant red variety of this part of Cilento.
Production is deliberately limited to around 5,000 bottles per year. No selected yeasts are used — fermentation happens with the indigenous yeasts naturally present on the grape skins, the same strains that have inhabited the vineyard for generations. The result is a wine that genuinely expresses the place it comes from.
The Cilento National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, surrounds the vineyard. The altitude brings marked day-night temperature swings that preserve aromatic freshness and slow ripening — producing the acidity and complexity that define Santostasi's Aglianicone.
This is the question asked most often by wine lovers who discover Santostasi for the first time. The two names are similar, the confusion is understandable — but the differences are real and substantial.
"Despite the name, Aglianicone is not simply a larger or inferior variant of Aglianico. Genetic analyses confirm it as an independent variety, with its own distinct profile, history, and terroir."
Aglianico is one of the most celebrated Southern Italian red grapes, widely grown in Campania (Taurasi DOCG) and Basilicata (Aglianico del Vulture DOC). Its name likely derives from Hellenico — Greek — reflecting the ancient Greek colonisation of Southern Italy. It is characterised by high tannins, marked acidity, and significant ageing potential.
Aglianicone, despite the name, is a genetically distinct variety. Studies on native Campanian grape varieties have confirmed that Aglianicone and Aglianico share only partial genetic markers: they are related, but not one and the same. Aglianicone has likely been selected over centuries in the specific conditions of coastal Cilento — a different microclimate, different soils, different altitude — evolving independently from Aglianico cultivated on inland volcanic soils.
Aglianico is cultivated primarily in the provinces of Avellino and Benevento (Campania) and in Basilicata. The great Taurasi DOCG and Aglianico del Vulture DOC have made it internationally famous. It is widely planted — production runs to millions of bottles annually.
Aglianicone is found in a handful of micro-zones along the Cilento coast and hinterland, at altitudes between 400 and 600 metres. Its cultivation never expanded commercially: today only a few producers still bottle it as a monovariety. Santostasi, at 550 metres in Pellare, is among the last.
The two varieties produce wines with noticeably different characters:
This is perhaps the most concrete difference. Aglianico is a DOC and DOCG variety — easy to find in wine shops across Italy and internationally. Aglianicone is almost impossible to find as a standalone bottling. There are no DOC or DOCG designations for it. The few producers who still cultivate it are scattered across a restricted area of Cilento, with tiny productions that rarely leave the local market.
For a wine lover curious about Italian native varieties and the treasures still hidden in its most remote terroirs, Aglianicone represents something genuinely rare: a wine that cannot be compared with any other, because almost no-one else makes it.
In short: Aglianico is famous, Aglianicone is rare. One has conquered world markets; the other has survived in silence in a corner of the Cilento National Park, kept alive by a handful of families who never forgot it.
Aglianicone Santostasi. Limited production, shipped across Italy. Available for international orders on request.
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