Molise is Italy’s second smallest region (after Valle d’Aosta) by both area and population. It lies on the Adriatic coast, squeezed between Abruzzo (with which it was once conjoined as the two “Abruzzi”) and Puglia. Its capital and largest city is Campobasso. Molise remains unfamiliar to most tourists and to the wine world. It has no DOCGs, four DOCs (see map on this page), and two IGPs, with just 5,375 ha (13,300 acres) under vine. In 2020, Molise produced 400,000 hl (4.5 million cases)—above average, though down from 2018’s and 2019’s bumper crops—of mostly table wine, more than 70% of it red. The region’s primary grape varieties are Montepulciano (51%) and Trebbiano (12%).
