The rustic charm of Italy’s forgotten region, Basilicata
One of the most popular wines at our recent Hidden Gems of Italy tasting was from little known Basilicata, among the country’s poorest and most remote wine regions.
The wine was Aglianico del Vulture. Aglianico is the grape and Vulture refers to the extinct volcano, Mount Vulture, where 1,000 hectares of vines grow up to 760m on sooty potassium-rich volcanic soils, producing robust, rich concentrated reds with wild, savage and smoky notes. Even though this is one of the newly ranked DOCG appellations, it is barely known outside Italy.
One of the reasons is that the Basilicata region, the arch or instep in Italy’s heel, is not on the tourist trail. This ruggedly beautiful landscape of forests and mountains, including the fascinating cave complex near Matera (2019 European City of Culture) stretches north of Potenza to Puglia, west to Campania and down to the Ionian Sea near Calabria.
The aglianico grape thrived in Basilicata (also known as Lucania) until the 19th century, when vineyards were ravaged by phylloxera. Like many remote regions it took decades to return to prosperity and today there are 9,000 hectares of the grape across southern Italy. Despite this, half of the aglianico harvest ends up sold in bulk to bolster blends in northern Italy – another reason why aglianico is not well known.
Despite its southerly location, Mount Vulture is one of the coolest red wine areas of Italy. Night time temperatures drop dramatically, retaining acidity and aromas in aglianico grapes, giving a fascinating combination of very ripe fruit from hot summer days and fresh acid bite from cool nights. It is a late ripening grape, so Vulture’s harvest is often Italy’s last in late October or November.
Like many other Italian regions, times are changing here. The best known producers are d’angelo, Notaio and Paternoster – but now a new generation of Basilicata winemakers
are putting this fascinating region back on the map. The Musto Carmelitano family are a good example of this changing world. Up until 2007 the family, based in Rionero near Maschito 600m up on the Vulture slopes, used to sell their grapes to the local co-operative like so many others.
When daughter Elisabetta and son Luigi converted their four hectare vineyard to organic, their yield went right down, so they had to start bottling their own wine – and they now focus on high quality single vineyard aglianico. It was their 2009 Aglianico Pian del Moro, grown on Vulture’s brown lava soils on free standing alberellos, which stole the show at our tasting, showing how good aglianico can be when hand crafted in small quantities and matured for some years in bottle.
The thick skins of the grape can make for austere, fiercely tannic wines in their youth, but improved techniques in vineyard and winery are making softer, more approachable wines.
“In the right hands aglianico can be forward and soft fruited for early drinking,” says Philip Contini of Valvona & Crolla. “Thankfully the 1990s trend towards ageing aglianico in new barriques is dying out in favour of large bottes to allow fruit to predominate,” he says.
Aglianico is a southern grape which marries particularly well with tomato based cuisine or cucina of Basilicata.”
You might well have tasted aglianico from volcanic soils in Avellino in Campania near Naples (it forms the base of powerful Taurasi and Benevento reds) or from Texas, California and Australia. But what southerly Basilicata’s aglianico can offer is a wilder, nervier example of this ancient grape. It is a perfect time of year to try its rustic charms, with tomato-based winter stews and casseroles.
Aglianico del Vulture d’angelo 2013
One of the mature examples in our tasting, praised for its smoothness and intensity, our testers loved its sweet, spicy character, wild berry and prune notes, and hints of coffee and chocolate. There’s plenty of grip as you expect from aglianico; very stylish with a long finish.
£14.95, Valvona & Crolla, Edinburgh, www.valvonacrolla.co.uk
Aglianico del Vulture 2015
This was the most forward fruit-driven wine in our tasting, made by Dennis Verdecchia; damson aromas and bitter chocolate flavour – but tannins are soft, smooth and velvety. Very approachable.
£11, Marks & Spencer
Vigneti del Vulture, Aglianico del Vulture ‘Pipoli’ 2015
This is a good introduction to aglianico, made by Valentino Sciotti (of Vesevo fame) in this small Basilicata co-operative in Acerenza, with consultant Alberto Antonini. There are lovely black cherry aromas, and it’s chocolatey with chewy blackfruits and a light oaky note. £11.99, Valvona & Crolla, www. valvonacrolla.co.uk; Valhalla’s Goat, www.valhallasgoat.com
Aglianico del Vulture Alvolo 2013 Alovini
This is a very stylish, wellmade aglianico which has benefited from bottle age. Made by talented Oronzo Alo, using his oldest aglianico vines, tasters loved its chunkiness and plummy fruits, liquorice, bitter chocolate flavours and fresh minerally undertones. £15.50, The Wine Society, www.thewinesociety.com