2010 Il Sigillo, Cantine Del Notaio, Basilicata, Italy

Cantine Del Notaio

Basilicata

Basilicata is a region in the south of Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia (Puglia) to the east, Calabria to the south, it has one short coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea and another of the Gulf of Taranto to the south-east.

Basilicata, also known as Lucania, is an often overlooked wine region of parched hills and isolated mountains that can be bitterly cold for its southerly location. Yet this cool mountainous climate allows grapes to preserve vivid, fresh aromas and flavours. Basilicata has only one DOC in Aglianico del Vulture, but the quality of it is such that it ranks among the best known indigenous Italian reds.

Aglianico, the name of the grape, is a corruption of the word "Hellenic/ Ellenico" or Greek. The vines was originally planted by the Greeks when they settled there in pre-Roman times, when southern Italy was a Greek colony known as Magna Graecia or Oenotria. The Greeks planted many vines in the zones around the Mount Volture , which is considered the prime spot and stronghold of Aglianico today. 

Aglianico can produce very long-lived wines of intensity and finesse. In the past young Aglianico wines were often fiercely tannic and harsh - fortunately improved techniques in both the vineyard and winery have led to fresher and riper wine being made that are eminently approachable in youth but also still improve with bottle age.

Recommended Producers: Musto Carmelitano, Donato d’Angelo, Carbone

Aglianico

Aglianico's origins are Greek (the name is a dialect version of the word Ellenico, the Italian word for Hellenic) and its was originally planted in the Campania and Basilicata regions of southern Italy over 2,500 years ago when southern Italy was a Greek colony known as Magna Graecia or Oenotria.

The grapes thrived until the late 19th century when it was almost destroyed by phylloxera. Since the war plantings have gradually increased and there were about 13,000 ha/32,000 acres of Aglianico planted at the last official count, in 1990.

The grape seems to prefer soils of volcanic origin, as well as dry and sunny location, and achieves its finest results in the two DOCs of Taurasi in Campania and Aglianico del Vulture in Basilicata. It is an early budding, late ripening variety and in the right hands can produce very long-lived wines of intensity and finesse. In the past young Aglianico wines were often fiercely tannic and harsh - fortunately improved techniques in both the vineyard and winery have led to fresher and riper wine being made that are eminently approachable in youth but also still improve with bottle age.