It was something of a “Cold Case”—or perhaps, to be more accurate, a Missing Varietals affair. The two Pallagrellos—Bianco and Nero (born of the same vine)—were ancient grapes of note that enjoyed a particularly flattering career under the 18th-century Bourbon kings, who accorded them positioning in the special Vigna del Ventaglio—a name signifying the fanlike shape of the vineyard. This royal recognition could not insulate them, however, from the ravages of phylloxera in the early 20th century—or so it was assumed after they ostensibly disappeared from the varietal scene. However, in the early 1990s, Peppe Mancini—an attorney with an unresolved case of oenophilia—chanced upon some prephylloxera vines. Contrary to expectation, the vines were not on their own, but rather, were being quietly tended by a few low-profile owners. Mancini put his discovery into motion, acquiring cuttings that he subsequently planted.

This modest representation yielded the inception of Vestini Campagnano—dedicated exclusively to Campania’s Pallagrello relations and their fellow Campanian, Casavecchia. Attracted to the defining subjects of Vestini, oenological scholar Luigi Moio began a period of independent study dedicated to these grapes, thereafter formally assuming the role of oenologist at Vestini. In 1999, fellow attorney Alberto Barletta became a partner of Mancini, joining a revival that had already met with critical acclaim. Despite the success enjoyed by the wines, not all was happily settled in the kingdom of Campagnano, home to the esteemed late-18th-century edifice Castel Campagnano. The attorneys dissolved their partnership in 2003, parting ways with a separation agreement that allowed Mancini to retain both Moio and the vineyard but required him to relinquish the estate’s name. He christened this new season in his oenological enterprise Terre del Principe, maintaining his three-varietal focus.

Terre del Principe focuses exclusively on three ancient varietals—Pallagrello Bianco, Pallagrello Nero, and Casavecchia—those that constituted Mancini’s focus at Vestini Campagnano. Pallagrello Bianco is fashioned in two bottlings, each one representing a different source and vinification method, while Pallagrello Nero and Casavecchia feature together in two blends as well as in one monovarietal expression each.