Wine Arcana

Grape

Pallagrello Bianco

Pallagrello Bianco is a white grape associated with Caserta and the hills of northern Campania. Its modern varietal wines belong to the same local revival that has brought Pallagrello Nero and Casavecchia to greater attention. For readers familiar with Fiano and Greco, it adds another distinct point of entry into Campanian white wine.

A local variety made visible

Alois describes small, compact bunches and rounded berries, and a fruity white-wine expression when the grape is handled in steel. Contemporary bottlings show that producers also use wood and extended lees contact to develop a more substantial style.

The revival has an established commercial history. A 2026 account of Vestini Campagnano records its early focus on Pallagrello and Casavecchia and lists both its regular Pallagrello Bianco and Le Ortole. The significance is the continued cultivation and separate presentation of local grapes, allowing drinkers to encounter identities that a general Campanian blend can conceal.

Two vineyards and cellar approaches

Alois's Caiatì and Morrone provide a particularly useful comparison. Caiatì comes from the Audelino vineyard, whose technical sheet records volcanic ignimbrite soils and an elevation of 148 metres. It is fermented and matured in steel. That method gives a direct view of the producer's fruit-led style without introducing wood-derived aromas.

Morrone comes from a higher, calcareous site near Pontelatone, recorded at 350 metres. The producer describes a divided cellar treatment: two-thirds in steel and one-third in wood, with fine-lees contact, followed by further bottle maturation.1. Alois, “Caiatì” and “Morrone,” vineyard elevations, soils and cellar methods as published in the producer's technical sheets. The resulting comparison involves both different vineyard material and a different maturation route.

That distinction matters when discussing altitude or soil. A comparison between these finished wines cannot isolate the effect of elevation, because the cellar treatment changes too. Lees ageing can modify texture, while wood provides another environment for development. The producer's choices explain why Pallagrello Bianco need not have the same weight or expression in every bottling.

Sources