Italian wines Basilicata

The Greeks are the people who colonized the region after the coming of the Lucanians, and who introduced the earliest types of agriculture, among which also vine-growing. Exactly form "ellenico", the term "Aglianico" derives, the vine most blooming and cultivated in Basilicata, that allows the production of the wine of the same name. It is a wine that, according to the legend, was offered to Polyphemus by Odysseus in exchange for his hospitality. It can be said that the Greeks did not miss the opportunities offered by this land, at the beginning not very suitable for human settlement because of the climate and the frequent floods.

The agricultural traditions of the Greeks and the production techniques were handed down to the Byzantines, who continue that meticulous cultivation of the vine, where vineyards were treated one by one, where the yield per hectare was modest, where quantity left space to quality.

Today, Basilicata offers scarce opportunities of choice (there are only two Doc in the region), but not less interesting. The ancient volcano Vulture enriches Aglianico that finds in its slopes a rare finesse and elegance. Matera, Grottino di Roccanuova and Terre dell'Alta Val d'Agri are the other denominations that have scarce visibility.