Aglianico del Vulture is an Italian red wine based on the Aglianico

Aglianico

Aglianico is a black grape grown in the Basilicata and Campania regions of Italy. The vine originated in Greece and was brought to the south of Italy by Greek settlers. The name may be a corruption of Vitis hellenica, Latin for "Greek vine"...

 grape produced in the Vulture area of Basilicata

Basilicata

Basilicata , also known as Lucania, is a region in the south of Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south, having one short southwestern coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania in the northwest and Calabria in the southwest, and a...

. It was awarded Denominazione di Origine Controllata

Denominazione di Origine Controllata

Denominazione di origine controllata is a quality assurance label for food products, especially wines and various formaggi . It is modelled after the French AOC...

(DOC) status in 1971 and the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) status in 2011. Located on volcanic soils derived from nearby Mount Vulture, Aglianico del Vulture is the only DOCG in Basilicata.

Wine regions

Aglianico del Vulture DOC can be produced only in the following communes: Rionero in Vulture

Rionero in Vulture

Rionero in Vulture is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is located on the slopes of Monte Vulture in the northern part of the region of Basilicata.-History:...

, Barile

Barile

Barile is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is bounded by the comuni , of Ginestra, Rapolla, Rionero in Vulture, Ripacandida, Venosa. The town is an ancient Arbëreshë settlement and the population still maintains strong links with that...

, Rapolla

Rapolla

Rapolla is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is bounded by the comuni of Barile, Lavello, Melfi, Rionero in Vulture, Venosa.-Main sights:...

, Ripacandida

Ripacandida

Ripacandida is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is bounded by the comuni of Atella, Barile, Filiano, Forenza, Ginestra, Rionero in Vulture.-Archaeology:...

, Ginestra

Ginestra

Ginestra / Zhura is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is bounded by the comuni , of Barile, Forenza, Maschito, Ripacandida, Venosa....

, Maschito

Maschito

Maschito is a town and comune of the province of Potenza, in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. Like other towns in the Vulture area, Maschito was repopulated by Albanian refugees after the occupation of Albania by the Ottoman Empire.-Geography:Located Northeast of Basilicata, it is a small...

, Forenza

Forenza

Forenza is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is bounded by the comuni of Acerenza, Avigliano, Filiano, Ginestra, Maschito, Palazzo San Gervasio, Pietragalla, Ripacandida....

, Acerenza

Acerenza

Acerenza is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata.-History:With its strategic position 800 m above sea-level, Acerenza has been sacked by a series of invaders....

, Melfi

Melfi

Melfi is a town and comune in the Vulture area of the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata.-Geography:On a hill at the foot of Mount Vulture, Melfi is the most important town in Basilicata's Vulture, both as a tourist resort and economic centre.-Early history:Inhabited...

, Atella, Venosa

Venosa

Venosa is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata, in the Vulture area. It is bounded by the comuni of Barile, Ginestra, Lavello, Maschito, Montemilone, Palazzo San Gervasio, Rapolla and Spinazzola....

, Lavello

Lavello

Lavello is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the region of Basilicata of southern Italy; it is located in the Vulture traditional region, in the middle Ofanto valley.-History:...

, Palazzo San Gervasio

Palazzo San Gervasio

Palazzo San Gervasio is a small agricultural town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. Its history dates back over 500 years...

, Banzi

Banzi

Banzi is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata.Called Bantia in antiquity, it was the site of the find of the bronze tablet known as the Tabula Bantina, which contains an important fragment of the ancient Oscan language....

, Genzano di Lucania

Genzano di Lucania

Genzano di Lucania is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata.-External links:*...

.

Viticulture

Most of the vineyards are located on higher altitudes in the region, typically between 450 to 600 meters. The Aglianico grape ripens late and is often one of the last non-dessert wine

Dessert wine

Dessert wines are sweet wines typically served with dessert.There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal, as opposed to the white fortified wines drunk before the meal, and the red fortified wines drunk after it...

 grapes to be harvest

Harvest (wine)

The harvesting of wine grapes is one of the most crucial steps in the process of winemaking. The time of harvest is determined primarily by the ripeness of the grape as measured by sugar, acid and tannin levels with winemakers basing their decision to pick based on the style of wine they wish to...

ed in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 being picked from late October to early November. When yield

Yield (wine)

In viticulture, the yield is a measure of the amount of grapes or wine that is produced per unit surface of vineyard, and is therefore a type of crop yield...

s are kept low, the grape will produce intensely flavored wines.

Winemaking

In recent years there has been movement towards the use of new French oak barrels for aging the wine instead of large chestnut

Chestnut

Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...

 casks. If the wine is labeled vecchio (meaning "old") it will have been aged for least three years with wines labeled riserva being aged for at least five years, two of which must be in wood.

Wines

Aglianico del Vulture wines have the potential to be full bodied, richly textured with a firm tannic structure and chocolate

Chocolate

Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...

-cherry

Cherry

The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....

notes. In their youth, the wines can be more rustic and harsh but they can develop soft tannins and more silky texture as they age, having the potential to improve in the bottle for 6 to 20 years.

External links

• Aglianico del Vulture