Campanilismo in the Glass: Joe Roberts’ Central Italy Recommendations

Last fall, staff writer Joe Roberts traveled through Central Italy at the invitation of Studio Cru (as part of Taste the Difference: Quality wines from the heart of Europe, a program co-funded by the European Union), tasting across a cross-section of historic zones where local identity still defines the wines more than trends or export expectations. What emerged was a powerful reminder of how deeply place-driven Central Italian fine wine remains, exemplified by four producers whose bottles speak unapologetically of their origins.

There’s a word that Italians use—sometimes affectionately, sometimes critically—to describe an intense loyalty to one’s hometown, village, or immediate surroundings: campanilismo. The term comes from campanile, the bell tower that once defined the center of civic life in most Italian towns, and the radius within which one’s sense of belonging (and pride) was formed.