The history of Villa Matilde began in the 1960s, when Francesco Paolo Avallone, a lawyer with a passion for ancient wines and an abiding interest in the “vinum Falernum” described in the accounts of Pliny and in the poetry of Virgil, Martial, and Horace, decided to bring back to life that legendary wine. It had disappeared in the early 20th century. Located in Campania, in southwestern Italy, it sources from vineyards in that region’s finest growing areas: the areas of upper Caserta, the Sannio near Benevento, and Irpinia.

With the assistance of a group of friends, including professors in the department of Crop Sciences at the University of Naples, Avallone was able to identify, after years of study, the grape varieties that had produced Falernum in Roman times, according to a background story on its home page.