Salad, a Grotto, and DOC Wine: the Island of Capri

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A trip to the island of Capri should be a part of any dream trip to Italy. Located on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, the island may be reached via a 40-minute ferry ride from Naples or Sorrento. Once you arrive at the island’s Marina Grande, you can take a short bus ride or a scenic funicular up to the town of Capri, and then perhaps journey a bit further to the town of Anacapri.

Either way, you’ll want to take a long gaze at the coastline, lined as it is by the faraglioni—limestone crags also known as “sea stacks” that rise above the surface of the azure sea.

You’ll also want to join the throngs of tourists at the Grotto Azzurra (the Blue Grotto). It might be crowded, expensive, and kitschy—but it must be done! The Blue Grotto is a cave, formed over the millennia by the action of the sea, on the island’s coast. The opening to the cave is about 3 feet high by six feet wide, and can only be accessed when the sea is calm and the tide is low. It is worth the wait, however, because after you duck your head and your boat slips into the 165-foot long cave, the sunlight filtering through the seawater creates a blue reflection that bathes the cavern in a clear, blue light.

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After building up an appetite, you’ll need a good meal, and an Insalata Caprese (quite literally, the “salad of Capri”) sounds like the perfect first course. This is a simple salad of sliced fresh mozzarella di buffala, tomatoes, basil, and olive oil, made to resemble the colors of the Italian flag.  (There’s a recipe in the links below.) Insalata Caprese, they say, was invented in the early 20^th century to show off the  abundant produce of the sunny island, to give a nod (via those colors) to patriotism for Italy, and to appease the growing numbers of important politicians and royalty (Hollywood and otherwise) who were visiting Capri in droves.

You’ll probably need a nice glass of white wine to go along with your lunch, and you are in luck, as the island produces a red and a white wine under the Capri DOC. With just two acres planted to vines, your lunch on Capri might be your only chance to ever taste these wines, so we suggest you try a glass of each.

The white wine produced in the Capri DOC is made from a minimum of 80% (combined) Falanghina and Greco. The Falanghina grape is one of the leading grapes of Campania, and plays a role in many of the DOC-based wines of the province. Falanghina-based wines tend to be high in acidity and show aromas of peaches, pears, apricots, almonds, and a bit of “leafiness” and minerality. The Greco grape variety is also widely grown in Campania (as well as several nearby regions such as Lazio, Puglia, and Molise). Wines made from Greco sound quite similar to those made from Falanghina, and have been described as having aromas of apricot, peach, citrus, fresh herbs, and a hint of minerality along with medium body, fresh acidity and a nice balance. Sounds like a Capri Bianco DOC would pair nicely with an Insalata Caprese.

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If your secondo of choice is some variation on pasta with tomato sauce, a glass of Capri Rosso DOC is a perfect accompaniment. Capri Rosso DOC is produced using a minimum of 80% Piedirosso.  The Piedirosso grape is likely native to Campania and is one of the most widely grown red grapes of the area (this, despite the fact that you probably never heard of it before).  Piedirosso is known for producing light-ish red wines with fruity flavors of plum, blackberry, and cherry, has a fresh bite of acidity and (not surprisingly) it’s often compared to those produced from Gamay.

One interesting tidbit about Piedirosso is its name which derives from “red feet.” I assumed that this referred to the red feet one might acquire while stomping around in a vat of freshly-picked Piedirosso grapes, but apparently it refers to the color and shape of the stalks that attached the bunches of grapes to the vine—they are three-pronged and thus resemble the claws of a pigeon, and around harvest time, they turn red.

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Wine making is an ancient but dying are on the island of Capri, but it is kept alive by a small but hardy troupe of winemakers keeping the dream alive. For some great insight into Capri and its wines, I suggest a visit to the Scala Fenicia Winery. If that’s not possible in the near future, you could always just visit their website.

References/for further information:

• Robinson, Jancis, Julia Harding and José Vouillamoz: Wine Grapes. New York, 2012: Harper Collins Publishers
• https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jul/18/nigel-slater-classic-insalata-caprese
• https://www.summerinitaly.com/guide/capri-and-ischia
• http://www.capri.com/en/what-to-see
• http://www.capri.net/en/e/top-ten-capri
• http://www.scalafenicia.com/en/

The Bubbly Professor is “Miss Jane” Nickles of Austin, Texas… missjane@prodigy.net