Basilicata
The mountainous region of Basilicata is situated in the southwest corner of Italy next to the Ionian Sea. Basilicata, also known as Lucania, devotes around 60,000 acres to vines with a total annual wine production of just under 13 million gallons. Approximately 73% of wine production is red, with 27% white. The DOC in Agliancio del Vulture was the first in Basilicata and is one of southern Italy’s finest, producing much admired red wine. The Aglianico vine was brought to Basilicata by the Greeks as long ago as the 6th century BC. The slopes of the extinct volcano of Monte Vulture produce a robust, deeply coloured wine that can improve for many years becoming increasingly refined and complex in flavour. The other, more recent appellations, include Terra dell’Alta Val d’Agri and Matera. Terra dell’Alta Val d’Agri produces red and rosé wines based on the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Matera uses a range of varieties in its six types of wine, including the red Sangiovese, Primitivo and Cabernet Sauvignon and the white Greco Bianco and Malvasia Bianca di Basilicata.