Basilicata Wine Trip

Considering I was going to be spending 10 days in Calabria around New Year's, and had already visited a couple of Calabrian wineries, I figured I should use the opportunity to do some southern wine travelling. It seemed like one of the closest areas to get to would be the region of Basilicata, and since I had tasted a bit of Aglianico del Vulture DOC made there, I set my sights on Rionero in Vulture.

The area has an interesting terroir, considering that the grapes are planted in the volcanic soil of the extinguished Vulture volcano. Here's a look at one of the wineries:


I searched some of the forums including Wine Berserkers, WLTV, etc. and no one had much to say about touring Basilicata with wine in mind... I was going to have to go it alone! Online I researched wineries to find the best producers. We decided to drive from Calabria, and stay one night in a hotel. We picked the Hotel San Marco right away which was a good deal at 60 Euros a night, simple and clean, and central.

Here were the wineries we chose, and some notes on each:

CASA VINICOLA ARMANDO MARTINO - gave us a tour of winery but no tasting, does not even export to the US, doesn't seem interested in doing so http://www.martinovini.com/

TERRA DEI RE - these people were the most hospitable, the nicest, gave us a full tour and we did a full tasting with the enologist, who is a true font of info on the history of the area. They are young, opened in 2002 I think. Here we tasted a dessert wine made from Aleatico that he has just started producing, it was amazing, like tasting sweet roses! It is not available yet in the US, and he only made 1400 bottles at the moment.

They also had a wine named Nocte, which was 100% aglianico grown in the same vineyard where they grow their usual harvest for their Aglianicos, but harvested at night. (These were all 2006's) We were lucky enough to taste the day-harvested Aglianico next to the Nocte, and the difference in aromas was notable. The Nocte was much more smoky, dark, with liquor soaked blackberries and floral, almost perfumey notes. There was a lot more spice and barnyard on the day-harvested one, called Vultur, and no floral perfume at all. They found that this phenomen of aromas happens because of the large temperature difference between day and night in October when they harvest the grapes in their area. The grapes create some kind of elastins on their skins (I am recounting this from memory, hope it's right) to protect themselves from the cold temperatures at night, and these substances have polyphenols, which create aroma. They harvest at night, and put the grapes immediately into a cold pre-fermenation, which preserves these aromas so they are not lost in the rest of the winemaking process. I would really like to observe this in other wines, if you have heard of this tactic with other producers, let me know! http://www.terradeire.com/home.htm

PATERNOSTER - gave us a tour of the winery but no tasting with the enologist, very nice, makes the only biodynamic wine I ran into there. One of the oldest wineries. Haven't tasted their stuff yet though http://www.paternostervini.it/

Here is Paternoster's entrance and grounds:


BASILISCO - in the town of Barile next to Rionero. They gave us a very nice tour, they have restored all of the traditional caves where wine was stored for their aging in bottle. Striking to look at.


D'ANGELO - Also one of the older producers, we met quickly with the owner, they offered no tour or tasting or anything, did not seem equipped for visitors.

CANTINA DEL NOTAIO - One of the friendliest visits, with a very nice young host who was willing to spend time explaining their wines to us. No tasting. We visited their cantina in town rather than their winery because of lack of time. Would have loved to see the winery which apparently has a lot of old grottoes inside, just outside town. Their rose' had just won a wine award. http://www.cantinedelnotaio.it/

The Aglianicos I tasted where all big, round and tannic, wines that beg for food. They were pleasingly fruited without many vegetal aromas. The grape matures slowly and is harvested late, meaning that when the yields are low, the wines were rich and full bodied, and had a backbone of acidity that meant they would age quite well. Most of the strong tannins and strong acidity I was tasting in these latest vintages will soften nicely over time. Since these wines are usually well priced, look for them in your area.