Wine Arcana

Grape

Greco

Also known as Asprinio, Asprinio Bianco

Greco is a white Vitis vinifera grape associated especially with Campania and the dry wines of Greco di Tufo. It combines freshness with enough substance to make a firm, persistent white. Its inland vineyards around Tufo give it a different setting from the coastal plain where the name Asprinio belongs to a separate wine tradition.

Naming requires care. The Campanian grape discussed here is distinct from the Calabrian variety catalogued as Greco Bianco, although some literature also uses the words Greco bianco descriptively for the Tufo grape.1. University of California, Davis, Foundation Plant Services, “Greco Bianco,” varietal record, accessed 9 September 2026.

Greco and Asprinio

DNA profiling has established a synonymy between Greco di Tufo and Asprinio. In a Campanian study published in 2005, the sampled vines under those names matched at the sixteen microsatellite markers examined. The Italian Vitis Database also records the relationship.2. L. Costantini et al., “Genetic relationships among local Vitis vinifera cultivars from Campania (Italy),” Vitis 44 (2005), pp. 25–34; C. D'Onofrio and G. Scalabrelli, “Greco B.,” Italian Vitis Database, 2015. Asprinio and Greco remain useful regional names because the growing conditions and wines associated with them differ.

The wider Italian use of greco and grechetto has encompassed several varieties and historical wine names. Those words alone cannot identify a vine or establish its precise place of origin. The distinction matters especially when reading old accounts of southern Italian wines.

A long growing season

Greco ripens late. Its compact bunches sometimes have a large wing that makes them look doubled. Budbreak classifications differ between technical accounts, while both Rauscedo and the Italian Vitis Database describe a late harvest. Exposure and autumn weather are important to completing ripening.

Around Tufo, winters are cold and summer nights markedly cooler than days. The vineyards include clay-rich ground, with different proportions of sand and silt. Water held in the soil can support ripening through dry summer weather. The denomination's rules favour well-exposed hillsides and exclude damp, insufficiently sunny valley floors.3. Ministero delle politiche agricole alimentari e forestali, Greco di Tufo production specification, consolidated with the decree of 13 October 2020, articles 2–5 and 9.

Wine character

Greco can give floral and citrus impressions with an almond-like finish. Clonal trials reported by Vivai Cooperativi Rauscedo show variation in fruit aroma, acidity, and suitability for maturation. Some selections make particularly fresh wines; others provide more body. The result in a bottle also reflects harvest maturity and the producer's handling of the fruit.

Greco di Tufo requires at least 85% Greco, with up to 15% Coda di Volpe. The defined area covers Tufo and seven neighbouring communes in the province of Avellino. Alongside still wines, its rules permit sparkling wines made by second fermentation in bottle. Those wines spend time on their yeast sediment, adding a distinct stage of maturation to the grape's fresh base wine.3. Ministero delle politiche agricole alimentari e forestali, Greco di Tufo production specification, consolidated with the decree of 13 October 2020, articles 2–5 and 9.

Sources