Basilicata | Wine Region

The small wine region of Basilicata lies deep in the south of Italy, nestled between Apulia, Calabria, and Campania. Despite its impressive landscape and long history, it still enjoys far less international renown than the country's major wine regions—not least because viticulture here presents particular challenges. On around 10,000 hectares of vineyards, the vines often grow in small, scattered plots spread across hills and mountain slopes. This fragmented structure, coupled with the steep slopes, makes working in the vineyard laborious and requires skilled craftsmanship. Many winegrowers therefore cultivate grapes as a sideline, out of passion and tradition rather than purely as a business.

Despite these adverse conditions, Basilicata offers exceptional conditions for wines full of character. The soils, shaped by the foothills of the Apennines and partly of volcanic origin, give the grapes a remarkable minerality. The vines are mostly cultivated using the traditional stake training system, a method that has proven itself in the region for centuries. The focus here is primarily on the Aglianico grape variety, which reaches its peak around the Monte Vulture area. It is the undisputed flagship of Lucanian viticulture - powerful, long-lasting, and with a deep, earthy elegance that impressively reflects the volcanic character of its homeland. - Gerardo [TS10/25]

"Step by step, harvest by harvest, Basilicata is taking on the contours of a true wine country. In oenological terms, this means that the average level of the respective productions is becoming more constant, and the peculiarities of the various growing zones are peeling out more clearly. On the other hand, today's stylistic guidelines testify to more conscious and well-founded decisions. At the center, as always, is the Vulture area, with its long-established wineries and its countless recent new releases, with its firmly rooted regular winemakers and the well-traveled immigrants who have bought their way here with considerable sums of money." - Gambero Rosso

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