The Casavecchia grape has little-known origins. It is certainly an indigenous variety from Campania, mainly found in the province of Caserta. A legend passed down among farmers traces its discovery to an old ruin known as “‘a casa vecchia”. There, in the early 1900s, an old vine was found that had survived the powdery mildew and phylloxera epidemics of the 1800s, thus becoming the progenitor of today’s Casavecchia grape. The production area of Casavecchia is located in the northern part of the province of Caserta and includes the municipalities of Pontelatone, Formicola, Liberi, and Castel di Sasso. The territorial bond of the grape is very strong, and its adaptability to other areas is very limited.

Casavecchia is a “mysterious” grape variety, as no ampelographer has ever mentioned it, and despite advances in the genetic mapping of grape varieties, Casavecchia presents very original characteristics and is excluded from being a clone of another variety. The only link of Casavecchia to ancient Campanian viticulture is that the ancient Roman locality “Trebula Balliniensis” coincides with its production area, leading to the belief that the grape at the origin of the “Trebulanum” wine praised by Pliny the Elder could indeed be Casavecchia. Being low-yielding, Casavecchia is naturally inclined toward high-quality products. Casavecchia wine has great structure, intense red color, and a remarkable predisposition for aging, so much so that it can only be truly appreciated and enhanced after aging in oak for 15-18 months and a subsequent bottle aging of at least 4 or 5 years. It is believed that a Casavecchia wine made from the best grapes can easily reach 20 years or more of aging. The Casavecchia di Pontelatone DOC is one of the smallest, if not the smallest, in Italy, and is naturally inclined to produce a high-quality wine.