Biferno

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The Molise territory is mainly mountainous and hilly, with 55.3% mountain and 44.7% hill land over an area of 4,438 km².
• The geological substrate consists of marly-limestone formations from the Paleogene and sandstone and marly-sandstone formations from the Miocene.
• The average annual temperature ranges between 13.5 and 14.8°C, while average annual rainfall is between 696.8 mm and 1067 mm, about 60% of which falls in autumn-winter.
• The landscape systems affected by the Biferno include hills with well-drained, calcareous and stony soils, and coastal hills with a sandy-clay geolithological substrate.
• Vineyard altitude may not exceed 500 metres above sea level for red and rosé wines, while it can reach 600 metres for white wines.
• In the Molise area, stratified limestone and dolomitic-limestone platform rocks of Triassic-Cretaceous age outcrop, represented by the massive uplands of the Matese and the Mainarde.
• The allochthonous complex of Varicolori clays, also known as the chaotic complex, outcrops over much of central Molise, in the middle and upper valleys of the Trigno and the Biferno.

• Viticulture in the area was already known in Greek times, with a wine called Paetrutianum, and Pliny mentioned a wine obtained from a vine variety called pumula.
• In the Middle Ages, vine cultivation became established in the shadow of the feudal castle, where the lord's placet allowed vassals and settlers to grow vines and a few other crops.
• In 1836 Giuseppe del Re reported that the vineyards, almost all planted on hills and knolls, covered a total of 56,948 moggi, equal to about 4,000 hectares, with various grape varieties ripening in succession.
• In 1892 the Società Operaia was founded in Ferrazzano, on the initiative of Angelantuono Baranello, and carried out intense promotional activity in the local agricultural sector.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Italy

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-IT-A0674