PENISOLA SORRENTINA
Gragnano and Lettere are the ‘new' wines of Campania, which are traditionally put on the market starting on St.Martin's day on 11 November. The grapes are vinified using the traditional method so the wines are not "novello" (that is produced with carbonic maceration) and are proposed fizzy, following the Neapolitan tradition. Gragnano is a town with a 14 sq km territory extending to a maximum altitude of 1,125 m a.s.l. at the foot of the Lattari mountains, which make up the Sorrento peninsula. The town of Lettere neighbours Gragnano, and has a greater mean altitude, reaching up to 1,316 m a.s.l.
The area of the Lattari Mountains was known and appreciated as early as the 5th century for its beautiful landscape and healthy air, its pastures and the products of the land. The spreading of vines during colonisation gave origin to a few settlements in the area, which later developed into the communities of Gragnano and Lettere. The presence of these communities was first reported in the 9th century and the following century viniculture must have already become an important economic reality if it is true that the cathedral of Lettere, by then a diocese, was dedicated to St. Mary of the Vineyards. Like on Capri and Vesuvius, religious institutes gave a major contribution to the development and spreading of viniculture in the Middle Ages. And it was the bishop of Lettere, monsignor Molinari who, coined the most enthusiastic expression on the wine that was produced there in the 1600s: "Si vis vivere sanum, bibe Gragnanum" (if you want to be healthy, drink Gragnano).
In the 20th century the so-called ‘traffica' of Gragnano was very well known: it indicated the negotiations for the purchase of wine casks carried out by Naples merchants in the countryside of Gragnano. Because the harvest takes place in mid-October, during the "traffica" the wines were still fermenting and were served "fizzy" once they reached the cellars in Naples.
Thanks to their characteristics these wines can be matched with meat dishes, cold meats, etc. and, less traditionally, with soups, fried food and fish dishes.