From the atlas
Tenuta Cavalier Pepe
An Irpinian family estate where Aglianico, Fiano, Greco and the region's other native grapes fill three DOCG appellations, with the Taurasi Opera Mia as the red wine at the top of the range.
At A Glance
| |
| Region | Campania, Irpinia |
| Appellations | Taurasi DOCG, Fiano di Avellino DOCG, Greco di Tufo DOCG, Irpinia DOC |
| Main grapes | Aglianico, Fiano, Greco, Falanghina, Coda di Volpe |
| Signature wine | Opera Mia Taurasi DOCG |
| Defining feature | Three DOCG appellations from a single family estate, with amphora vinification reserved for fruit from the oldest vineyards |
The Producer
The Pepe family has farmed vines in Irpinia for generations, selling wine across Italy and internationally long before Tenuta Cavalier Pepe took its current shape. Angelo Pepe built the estate into a property of 70 hectares of vineyards, 12 hectares of olive groves and hazelnut plantings, with a cellar, a panoramic restaurant and guest accommodations set within the landscape. In 1998, Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro appointed Angelo a Knight of the Republic in recognition of his work.
Angelo's eldest daughter, Milena Pepe, studied viticulture and oenology in France and marketing in Belgium before returning to lead the family estate. She now runs it. The range covers all three of Irpinia's DOCG appellations alongside the Irpinia DOC, drawing on Aglianico for the reds and Fiano, Greco, Falanghina and Coda di Volpe for the whites.
Place
Irpinia is the inland hill country of Campania, east of Naples, where the Apennines push the vineyards to elevations that temper the southern heat. The three DOCG appellations that Tenuta Cavalier Pepe works across, Taurasi, Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo, each carry a different grape as their backbone. Taurasi is built on Aglianico, a late-ripening red variety that produces firm tannins and high acidity in this mountain climate. Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo each name both the grape and the village at the centre of the appellation. The Irpinia DOC sits beneath all three and covers a broader range of varieties and styles.
Story
Angelo Pepe's work in Irpinia spanned decades of building what had been a family wine tradition into a property with cellar facilities and a hospitality operation that would eventually draw international attention. His recognition by the Italian state in 1998 came at a point when southern Italian wine was still building its international profile, and Irpinia's DOCGs were not yet widely known outside Italy.
Milena brought back from France a technical formation in the vine and the cellar, and from Belgium an understanding of how wine markets outside Italy evaluate and buy. She took over the running of the estate from her father and has overseen the range through the current configuration of wines, cellar equipment and farming practices. The hospitality side expanded alongside the winemaking, and the combination earned the estate a place among the hundred best wineries in the world for wine tourism in 2022, 2023 and 2024, as ranked by World's Best Vineyards.
Vineyards And Cellar
The estate farms Aglianico, Fiano, Greco, Falanghina and Coda di Volpe across its Irpinian holdings. Vineyard management emphasises limited fertilisation, monitored yields, rational soil care, and agriculture tools including biodegradable sensors and weather stations. Grapes are picked by hand into 18-kilogram boxes, then sorted again at the cellar before processing.
Fermentation runs almost entirely in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks, with automation used to manage alcoholic fermentation and skin maceration. For the Taurasi wines, maturation involves both 225-litre French oak barriques and 30-hectolitre French and Slavonian oak casks, with time in wood ranging from 12 to 18 months depending on the wine type and vintage. After wood ageing, the red wines move into concrete tanks, where they rest for months or years before bottling. The cellar also keeps handmade clay and ceramic amphorae for separate vinification of fruit from the estate's oldest vineyards, following what the estate describes as the oldest winemaking tradition.
A cellar laboratory tracks the process from grape analysis through fermentation, ageing and bottling.
Wines
The red range is led by Opera Mia, the estate's Taurasi DOCG, made from 100% Aglianico. Below it sits Campi Taurasini, a Taurasi-zone red that introduces Aglianico from the same area in a format with shorter ageing. Terra del Varo is the Irpinia Aglianico DOC bottling: a blend of Aglianico and Merlot, fermented with around ten days of skin contact in steel, then matured in steel and concrete before bottling. The Merlot moderates the Aglianico's tannin, giving the wine a softer approach than the pure-Aglianico Taurasi tier.
The white range draws on Fiano for the Fiano di Avellino DOCG, a grape that produces dry whites with citrus, white flowers and a firm, persistent finish in the Avellino hills. Greco di Tufo DOCG comes from the Greco grape grown around the village of Tufo, where volcanic soils contribute a distinct mineral quality to a wine with more body and texture than the Fiano. Falanghina and Coda di Volpe appear in the broader Irpinia DOC whites, offering rounder, more aromatic styles alongside the two DOCG grapes.
In The Glass
Opera Mia shows what Aglianico does at full Taurasi development: aromas of black cherry, blueberry, violet, dried rose, black pepper, coffee and chocolate, followed by a full, firm palate with notable tannins balanced by alcohol, a mineral quality running through the mid-palate, and a persistent finish of plum, blackberry and black cherry. The twenty days of skin maceration build the tannic depth; twelve months in barrique and an extended rest in concrete allow it to integrate.
Terra del Varo is more immediately accessible. Black cherry and blackberry lead on the nose, with notes of black pepper, bitter cocoa and a background of sweet spice. On the palate the tannins are softer than in the Taurasi tier, smoothed by the Merlot in the blend, with a savoury, persistent finish that carries berry fruit, black cherry and herbal notes.
The Fiano di Avellino whites bring citrus and white-flower aromatics with firm acidity and a clean, dry close. Greco di Tufo shows more texture and body alongside its mineral character.
A Bottle To Understand It
Opera Mia Taurasi DOCG is the bottle to open first from this estate. It is 100% Aglianico, macerated on skins for around twenty days, aged in French oak barriques and then in concrete tanks before bottling. The wine opens with black cherry, violet and black pepper, moves through a full palate of dark fruit and firm tannin, and finishes long on plum and blackberry. It is the Aglianico of this estate in its most developed form: high acid, firm tannin, dark fruit and spice running legibly through every stage of the glass.
Anecdote
In 1998, Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro appointed Angelo Pepe a Knight of the Republic. The title, Cavaliere della Repubblica, became part of the estate's name: Tenuta Cavalier Pepe. The estate had been the Pepe family's wine operation for generations, marketed across Italy and abroad. The state honour made the family name visible in a different register, and it has appeared on every bottle and label since.
Final Word
Tenuta Cavalier Pepe works all three of Irpinia's DOCG appellations from a single family base, with Aglianico driving the red range through Taurasi and the Irpinia DOC tier and native white grapes filling the Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo appellations.
Sources
- https://www.tenutapepe.it/en/pepe-family/
- https://www.tenutapepe.it/en/property/
- https://www.tenutapepe.it/en/the-cellar-2/
- https://www.tenutapepe.it/en/prodotto/opera-mia/
- https://www.diwinetaste.com/english/WineForm.php?wd=8422
- https://www.tenutapepe.it/prodotto/terra-del-varo/
- https://decanto.wine/aglianico-dirpinia-doc-terra-del-varo-tenuta-cavalier-pepe/