Vino Travels ~ An Italian Wine Blog: aglianico del vulture

Saturday, March 25, 2023

A Look into the Basilicata Wine Region

I wrap up this month’s feature on the regions of Molise, Campania and the Basilicata with a look into the Basilicata wine region. This region is one of the smallest regions in Italy with acres to vines. It is located in southern Italy situated between the regions of Campania, Puglia and Calabria. A small amount of the Basilicata lines the coast with the Tyrrhenian Sea to the southwest and the Ionian Seas on the southeast.

The Basilicata is a rugged terrain from the Apennines Mountains and hills that occupy about 90% of the territory. There is a small amount of plains that are located closer to the sea. The non-active volcano, Monte Vulture, is located in the northwest corner with altitudes about 4,300 feet where many of the Basilicata’s vineyards are located. With such a mix of geography, the climate is continental with a higher amount of precipitation around the mountains and a mediterranean climate near the sea.

Monte Vulture - Copyright of Michael Nielsen

With the varied geography also comes a variety of soils. Surrounding Monte Vulture the soils are rich volcanic soils as one would imagine. The hills are full of clay and closer to the sea the soils are sandy with marine sediments.

The Basilicata is dominated by red wines with about 70-80% of the overall production. The Aglianico grape is the primary red grape representing more than half of the wines. The only DOCG in the Basilicata is Aglianico del Vulturno Superiore DOCG that was promoted to this level in 2010 from the DOC originally established in 1971. This is one of the respected wines of Italy and shares similarities with neighboring Campania's Taurasi and Aglianico del Taburno.

You will find Aglianico produced under both the DOC and DOCG designations with varying regulations. Those of the Aglianico DOC can be released a year after harvest, but from the Aglianico del Vulture Superiore DOCG the yields are stricter, higher alcohol levels are required and aging must be a minimum of 3 years with at least 1 year in wood and 1 in the bottle.

Sourced from Consorzio di Tutela Aglianico del Vulture

Although white wines take a backseat in this region it’s worth noting that the grape of importance is Malvasia Bianca di Basilicata. A couple DOC’s where you can locate this grape are the Matera DOC Bianco and Grottino di Grottanova DOC Bianco.

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Friday, December 31, 2021

Why Aren't You Drinking More Aglianico?

Happy New Year Italian wine loving friends! I'm thrilled to start the New Year featuring one of my favorite Italian red native grapes, Aglianico. Our host this month for our Italian Food, Wine and Travel group (#ItalianFWT), Camilla, broached the topic and I jumped right on board. I've written a piece in the past comparing Aglianico to Nebbiolo from Northern Italy, but Aglianico deserves attention in its own right.

The Grape ~ Aglianico

Aglianico, pronounced "ah-lee-ah-knee-co", is an Italian native grape found in southern Italy, mostly in the Campania and Basilicata wine regions. It's a dark, almost black colored, grape that buds early, but is harvested late. It is thick skinned resulting in wines that are darkly colored, high in acidity and tannins along with a full body. These wines also have great potential for aging. They are typically complex with great structure showing pure red fruits that are savory and earthy not heavily masked by oak.

The Wine Regions ~ Campania and Basilicata

Aglianico loves sunshine and dry climates and grows particularly well in the volcanic soils of both Campania and Basilicata. Volcanic wines are unique lending minerality to the wines.

Campania is home to a couple DOCG's that feature the Aglianico grape. One of the most known and respected DOCGs throughout Italy for Aglianico is the Taurasi DOCG. Located in the Irpinia appellation, the eastern part of Campania bordering the Puglia and Basilicata regions, this DOCG was the first in southern Italy established in 1993. The Taurasi vineyards are located outside of Avellino in the area of one of Europe's most active volcanoes, Mt. Vesuvius. These wines require a minimum of 85% Aglianico and must be aged at least 3 years with at least 1 year in wood. The Riserva wines require an additional year with 18 months spent in wood.

Also in Campania in the Sannio appellation is the Aglianico del Taburno DOCG established in 2011. Along with Taurasi and Aglianco del Vulture we'll be discussing, this is the 3rd biotype of Aglianico also known as Aglianoc Taburno hailing from the area of Taburno. These wines also require a minimum of 85% Agliancio with 2+ years aging and Riserva wines requiring 3+ years (6 months in bottle) and 13%+ alcohol.

Aglianico grapes, copyright of Consorzio di Tutela Aglianico del Vulture

The Basilicata wine region, just to the east of Campania, hosts both a DOC and DOCG with Aglianico via Aglianico del Vulture DOC and Aglianico del Vulture Superiore DOCG. These vineyard sites are located in the northern part of the Basilicata and are both made from 100% Aglianico. The wines from the DOC cannot be released before September 1st a year after the harvest where the DOCG wines require 3+ years with 1 year spent in wood and 1 year in bottle. The Riserva DOCG wines require 2+ years in wood with 1 year in bottle and cannot be released before November 1st until 5 years after harvest.

The Wines

Unfortuately, I don't have any particular wines to share today as my local wine shop didn't have any and I didn't have any in my stash as well. 2022 I believe is the year I venture out into purchasing wine online since my time is always very limited to try and seek out particular wines that just sometimes aren't in abundance in my area. You can view some of my older posts with an Aglianico from Grifalco in the Basilicata and another Aglianico from the Basilicata from D'Angelo or even this Aglianico from Donnachiara in Campania.

I loves Aglianico due to their quality price ratio. You can get many of these great wines from the high teens to $30-40 in comparison to some of the other noble wines of Italy that carry a much heftier price tag. So what are you waiting for? Don't just take my word for it. Get out there and experience Aglianico for yourself.

Cheers to the New Year and please reach out with what you would like to see more of this year. I love to hear from my readers!

Join us live on Twitter this Saturday at #ItalianFWT @ 11am EST. Join my fellow food and wine lovers as they share their selected Aglianico wines with occasional pairings.