Robert V. Camuto - South of Somewhere: Wine, Food, and the Soul of Italy

Robert Camutos South of Somewhereis close to my heart. Each chapter is about experiencing the joy and perseverance of incredible iconic winemakers, such as Italys Mezzogiorno, who have preserved lesser-known native grapes through heroic efforts. In this book Robert brilliantly brings them to life. We are so fortunate to bear witness to this living history of Italian wine today.

Shelley Lindgren, owner-wine director of A16 restaurants

A delicious, thirst-inspiring romp full of remarkable personalities, their wine-soaked cellars, and one delectable meal after another. Camuto does it tastefully!

Kermit Lynch, wineconoclast, author, and importer

At Table

Robert V. Camuto

University of Nebraska Press | Lincoln

2021 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska

Cover design by Ashley Muehlbauer; cover image iStock / bluejayphoto.

All rights reserved

All photographs courtesy of the author.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Camuto, Robert V., author.

Title: South of somewhere: wine, food, and the soul of Italy / by Robert V. Camuto.

Description: Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2021.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021007917

ISBN 9781496225962 (paperback)

ISBN 9781496229168 (epub)

ISBN 9781496229175 (pdf)

Subjects: LCSH : Wine and wine makingItaly. | WineriesItaly, Southern. | Italy, SouthernDescription and travel. | Camuto, Robert V.TravelItaly.

Classification: LCC TP 559. I 8 C 2753 2021 | DDC 641.2/20945dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021007917

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

To the memory of my grandparents

Raffaele Cioffi (b. Vico Equense, 1895) and Concetta Guidone (b. Vico Equense, 1909)

The two greatest rewards of my career have been to explore this world as a journalist and to travel in the world of wine.

In recent years Ive had the privilege to take a deep dive into European terroirs and meet some original and sometimes heroic characters. I am extremely grateful to Wine Spectatorfor helping support the journey, to countless Italian winemakers and their staffs for their openness and hospitality, and to Italians who have welcomed us in our new home.

Writing is in itself a solitary and often lonely activity, and I thank my wife and son for supporting and participating in my peripatetic life over the years as well as the many readers whose letters and emails have encouraged me to write more.

Thanks also to the University of Nebraska Press team of editors and artists who have helped to realize this project, my agent, Barbara Rosenberg, and to independent editor Gretchen Stelter.

Italy began for me south of Naples, in a modest-sized town perched on a tuff stone cliff above the Mediterranean. Since Roman antiquity Vico Equense has been a slice of paradise, of seaside villas with stunning views over the Gulf of Naples to Mount Vesuvius. It was also the birthplace of my maternal grandparents, who immigrated to New York between the great wars and presided over an Italian-style deli on First Avenue called Ralphs.

As a very young boy, Id seen photographs and heard of Vicos unrivaled beauty and the sweet produce from its volcanic soils. Id gotten a taste of this world in my grandmothers tiny Manhattan kitchenin her earthy baked artichokes, her deeply aromatic wine-stewed Genovese Napoletanapasta sauce, and the melting layers of her eggplant parmigiana. This was where I first learned that food could alchemize into emotion and that a meal could be an intoxicating adventure.