2010 Fiano, Bianco Basilicata, Carbone

Carbone, Basilicata

Carbone is a relatively new producer of Aglianico del Vulture. Located in Melfi, Basilicata, close to the Vulture volcano, in an ancient cellar hewn out of the black lava rock, the Carbone family first planted Aglianico vines in the 1970s.

Up until vintage 2005 the family sold fruit to the then traditional cantina of Paternoster. From that year on Sara and her brother Luca have bottled their fruit themselves, with Sergio Paternoster as their consultant winemaker. They own 18 hectares, of which 10 are planted in the sooty, potassium rich, black volcanic soils of the Piani dell’Incoronata vineyards at 550 msl and a further 8 on clay, more suitable to the likes of white Fiano.

Vinification takes place in stainless steel, with invecchiamento/elevage in used and new French barrique and tonneaux. Very much benchmark plus expressions of this noble, but relatively unknown grape variety, the so-called ‘Nebbiolo of the South’, the family produce an earlier drinking Aglianico del Vulture called "400 Some", after the 400 mules belonging to King Carlo d’Angio of Southern Italy. While their "Stupor Mundi" Aglianico del Vulture celebrates the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1194-1250) and stems from the Carbone’s old Piani dell’Incoronata vineyard close to Melfi, with its historic castello.

Fruit of the chocolate brown volcanic soils that surround Monte Vulture, this is full-bodied Aglianico and white Fiano grapes at its very best!

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

Fiano

Fiano has been cultivated in southern Italy for over two thousand years and its best-known wine is Fiano di Avellino, which is produced in the Campania region, from vines grown on the volcanic hillsides of Avellino, east of Naples. The grape is low yielding and early ripening and produces crisp, well-balanced wines, often with hints of honey and nuts.

Previously Fiano-based wine were often prone to oxidation - however with the advent of modern winemaking techniques the wines are now renowned for their freshness and the best examples can benefit from 2-3 years of bottle ageing.