Travel

Basilicata: the Italian granary
«Vinnaya Karta» №6(87) August 2007

The Italians present Basilicata as the country’s southern granary.

Its open plains and soft hills are sown with grain and other crops, and fruit and vegetables are also grown. They cultivate vines as well — the region is getting more popular thanks to the local Aglianico grape.

Aglianico is something of a museum rarity that survived several human civilizations and lived up to modern era. Ancient Greeks first planted it in Puglia in the 7th century BC, and then introduced it over all southern part of the Apennine peninsula. They noticed that vines yield best grapes on the elevated plots with poor soils — thus Aglianico vineyards gradually moved to the mountain slopes. Recognising Greek origin of the grape, the Romans later called it Vitis Hellenica. By the 15th century, when Naples and the southern Italy were under the rule of the King of Aragona, Agliainco name became common in the Italian language.

Today Aglianico del Vulture DOC wine zone in Basilicata has earned reputation of one of the key Aglianico production centres. The area is located in the north of the region and takes about 1,500 hectares — not too large by Italian standards. Slopes of the extinct Vulture volcano and adjacent territories define the place for vineyard cultivation. The mountain with far-stretched slopes goes over 1,300 metres, and the vineyards can be found at maximum 900 metres.

Old winemaking centres are located on the steep eastern slope of Vulture around Barile, Rionero and Ripacandida. Later vineyards were planted to the north, south and further east on the highlands towards Lavello, Venosa and Genzano — that’s where most of today’s harvest comes from. Fifteen communes make Aglianico del Vulture production zone.

Vulture slopes mainly consist of volcanic rock, and clay soils dominate on the highlands. Grifalco della Lucania winery owns four vineyards in various parts of the area. For convenience, they bear names of the closest communes. The differences between them are obvious during wine tasting. The highest Ginestra plot with 30-year-old vines is located on top of the 500-metre hill in a close proximity to the volcano. Clay soils give the wine excellent structure and berry scents, intense and spicy flavours. Rapolla vineyard in eight kilometers to the north lies low, at 200-250 metres, right next to a stream. The soils are sandy — this is reflected in particular mineral aromas. Maschito, to the east of Ginestra, lies on 400-450 metres above the sea level and is grown on a plateau. The wine is distinguished by sturdy structure and a well-focused bouquet, with floral notes in aromas and pronounced mineral flavours. Venosa is directly to the north of Maschito. The vineyard is quite stony, pebbles were brought by the rivers. It was recently planted. Vines have not yet ‘absorbed’ terroir characteristics, but already show good volume.

Aglianico is a late ripening variety that needs a long warm autumn season with a good difference of day and night temperatures. It has high acidity that translates in wines’ freshness, and shows superior technical parameters, including the level of tannins. This may present a challenge for winemakers, but if right grapes are picked, Aglianico makes wines of excellent concentration, appealing structure, refreshing palate and an aging potential for ten years and longer.

The wines are well suited for barrel aging that helps to soften their tannins. Traditionally big casks were used. Today decision regarding the size of the barrels as well as the type of wood is left to a winemaker. In Grifalco della Lucania, for instance, one can find barriques, tonneaux and casks made of French, American and Slavonian oak.

Historically Basilicata was the land of winegrowers, not winemakers. Numerous cooperatives still get main income from selling bulk wine. Paternoster and D’Angelo are the two oldest independent family companies that helped to put the Aglianico del Vulture zone on the international map. The wineries were founded in 1920-30s and remain the leaders of the region.

Since late nineties new wineries have appeared which aim at high quality production, Some, like Basilisco and Eubea, believe in ultra modernist style. Others, such as Grifalco and Macarico (Vito Paternoster’s new project) look for a balanced reflection of the terroir and natural conditions. In the meantime, cooperatives have also reviewed priorities and have already launched high quality wines. It is especially noticeable at Consorzio Viticoltori Associati del Vulture — its entry level Aglianico and two more premium wines offer excellent value. Producers from other parts of Italy have also entered Aglianico del Vulture zone. The largest Italian producer GIV founded Terre degli Sveve in Venosa. Famous Feudi di San Gregorio from Campania owns Le Vigne di Mezzo. The Piccin family, former owner of Salcheto in Tuscany, have opened Grifalco della Lucania winery.

Matera caves and wines

Wines in Basilicata are made not only around Vulture Mountain. Recently new zones with protected origin were launched — Matera DOC, Terre dell’Alta Val d’Agri DOC and Roccanova Grottino IGT.

Matera is a must-see visit for everyone traveling in the south of Italy. The older part of town is famous through cave settlements known as “Sassi” (stones). Like Petra in Jordan, Sassi is an ancient town where the house facades hide dwellings cut in stone. The human presence has been known since the Paleolithic era — it is the world’s oldest settlement continuously inhabited by people. First urban constructions appeared in the Roman times in the 3rd century BC. It is also thought that the Romans founded the town. A thousand years later a large number of caves belonged to the Orthodox Greeks and the Benedictine monks. Numerous rock frescos confirm a strong Byzantine influence on the local religion. Around 150 churches cut in rock have survived until today. During the violent medieval times Matera was consecutively dominated by Longobards, Saracens, Normans, and Swabs. From mid-17th century the town was a capital of Basilicata region for 150 years.

Matera’s darkest period comes in the first half of the 20th century. The town of appalling poverty had neither electricity nor roads or sewerage systems. The death rate among the 15,000 population reached 50 percent. Carlo Levi, a political convict of Mussolini regime who had previously lived in industrial Turin and was exiled to Basilicata was shocked with what he saw. He wrote a book “Christ stopped at Eboli” where he described life in Matera. Later the book caused a great scandal in Italy. In early fifties the population was evacuated by force from Sassi to newly built districts of Matera. Later, an uneasy period of reclamation and gradual return of inhabitants followed. The process isn’t finished yet today. In 1993 Sassi was declared UNESCO Heritage Site and started to attract tourism. Matera popularity has also grown thanks to the fact that several Biblical films were shot there, among them are Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, King David by Richard Gere and The Passion by Mel Gibson.

As for wine production, one can find white, red and sparkling wines in a tiny Matera DOC. There aren’t that many wineries and some vineyards belong to companies from Puglia. Wines are made from Italian (Sangiovese, Aglianico, Primitivo, Negroamaro, Malvasia, Greco) and international grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay). They are mainly blends. The quality satisfies only local demand, but there were a couple of interesting examples in the tasting — red Lucerio based on Merlot and Negroamaro by Lanzolla and white Toccacielo from Malvasia and Chardonnay by Battifarano.