Coda di Volpe
Coda di Volpe is a white grape of Campania whose name, “fox's tail,” refers to the shape of its bunch. It contributes to regional blends and also makes varietal wines, especially in Irpinia. Those separate bottlings offer a useful way to understand a grape often encountered as a supporting component beside Greco.
Vineyard behaviour
Rauscedo's technical description records modest vigour, late budbreak and mid-to-late ripening. Large, compact bunches make the health of the fruit important as harvest approaches; the profile notes susceptibility to bunch rot and sour rot in wet conditions. The practical challenge is to complete ripening while keeping those crowded berries sound.
The nursery describes golden wines with floral character, generally intended for relatively early drinking. That is a useful starting point, but producer selections show why a grape's common role cannot define every wine made from it. Vineyard selection and the treatment of the finished wine can create a different balance of freshness, concentration and texture.
Irpinia's varietal expression
Vadiaperti's Torama is a documented example of a more deliberate maturation route. Its importer describes a selection of older, lower-yielding vines in the Pietradefusi and Torre le Nocelle area. The grapes are pressed as whole bunches, fermented in temperature-controlled tanks and kept on fine lees for up to two years. The account concerns this bottling, rather than prescribing a method for all Coda di Volpe.
Two distinctions help explain that sequence. Whole-bunch pressing separates the juice before fermentation; it is different from fermenting a red wine with whole bunches. Lees ageing then keeps the wine in contact with yeast sediment after fermentation, allowing texture to develop without a requirement for oak flavour.
Torama thus makes an instructive comparison with a young blended white. The variety's contemporary importance includes both roles: contributing to established Campanian wines and providing producers with a distinct local white to explore alongside Fiano and Falanghina.
Sources
- Vivai Cooperativi Rauscedo, “Coda di Volpe”, varietal profile.
- North Berkeley Imports, “Vadiaperti: Coda di Volpe ‘Torama’”, vineyard and vinification account; used for this wine's methods, not its promotional historical claims.
- Traerte–Vadiaperti, estate website, contemporary producer context, accessed September 2026.