Basilicata

History

In 1629, a historian described “Melfi and his Melfiaco” as a wine that was fragrant, golden, and sweet. This is interesting because today Basilicata is known mainly for red wine production, especially its high quality Aglianico del Vulture (in 1971, Aglianico del Vulture obtained the region’s first DOC).

Territory

The Basilicata territory is 47% mountainous, 45% hilly and only 8% flat. The mountainous soil is varied, mainly limestone and clay while the hill is sandy and clayey. These mountains slope into hills that are particularly suited to growing grapes, especially at the foot of the Vulture, an extinct volcano. Even in Val d’Agri, the particular climatic conditions and high altitudes—vines grow as high up as 700 meters above sea level—create great diurnal temperature variations allowing for wines of potentially excellent quality. Basilicata’s climate is continental in the interior and Mediterranean on the coast with precipitation of medium capacity, that comes mainly in the fall or in the summer months. The most important area is the Vulture in the province of Potenza where the Aglianico grape is grown and that also characterizes Basilicata’s only DOCG area, the Aglianico del Vulture Superiore DOCG.