Vulture is the Italian City of Wine 2026: Cantine del Notaio is a "friend company" of the project.

The " Italian City of Wine 2026 " award was given to 14 municipalities in Basilicata that share the history and culture of Aglianico del Vulture , one of Italy's greatest red wines. Ripacandida, Rionero in Vulture, Melfi, Ginestra, Barile, Rapolla, Genzano di Lucania, Atella, Acerenza, Palazzo San Gervasio, Lavello, Forenza, Venosa, and Maschito: these are the municipalities that received the award.

Vulture has received this recognition, bringing one of the most iconic regions of Southern Italy and the entire peninsula to the forefront of national attention. This is not simply a celebratory title, but a process of valorization involving municipalities, institutions, consortia, businesses, and local communities around a common goal: to showcase Vulture as a territorial, landscape, productive, and cultural system.

The project was born from a concerted application that brought together the Lucanian municipalities belonging to a large and diverse area, united by the presence of the ancient Vulture volcano and a winemaking history deeply linked to the Aglianico del Vulture grape, but also by a cultural, agricultural, and landscape heritage that deserves to be recognized and communicated in a unified way.

A key role in achieving this result was played by the regional coordinator of Città del Vino, Mauro Tucciariello, who guided the candidacy process and coordinated the efforts of the stakeholders. Cantine del Notaio , one of the initiative's "friendly companies," is also participating in the project, with the aim of contributing to the promotion of Vulture not simply as a production area, but as a territory worthy of exploration, exploration, and exploration.

In the words of Gerardo Giuratrabocchetti, owner of Cantine del Notaio , "Being a friend of this project means believing in the strength of Vulture as a unified territory, capable of expressing diverse yet complementary identities. Every village, every landscape, every production tells a part of this story. The recognition as an Italian City of Wine represents an important opportunity to promote Aglianico del Vulture, but also local oil, agricultural culture, lesser-known villages, and everything that makes this area unique. Today, more than ever, it is essential to work together, because the growth of Vulture depends on the ability to work together."

The official launch of the project took place on June 20, 2026, in the Church of San Donato di Ripacandida , with the inaugural convention of Vulture, Italian City of Wine 2026-2027 . The day's focus was the conference "Vulture 2030 – Identity, Vision, and Future," designed as an opportunity to discuss the area's development prospects.

The program addressed topics related to Vulture viticulture, history, geography, commercial dynamics, and the potential of wine tourism. It included the presentation of the Basilicata Wine Tourism Guide and insights into the local cultural heritage, from its relationship with Frederick II to the role of the Enoteca Lucana.

The initiative also had a concrete dimension of hospitality and promotion, through incoming activities involving operators and visitors, who were also welcomed at some local production facilities, including Cantine del Notaio . This is an important signal, because it demonstrates how recognition can translate into real opportunities for knowledge, networking, and visibility for the companies and sites of Vulture.

The title of Italian City of Wine is particularly significant because it allows us to highlight even lesser-known towns, incorporating them into a shared narrative. Vulture is not just a wine denomination, but a complex landscape: an ancient volcano, within which the Monticchio Lakes formed, historic villages, vineyards, olive groves, rural architecture, peasant memories, and cultural heritage that together create a strong, yet still partly untold, identity.

Also worthy of mention in this regard is the TwoEu project, the three-year communications plan of the Consortium for the Protection of Aglianico del Vulture and Vulture Extra Virgin Olive Oil . This initiative focuses on storytelling, events, digital marketing, as well as initiatives to strengthen the area's recognition through coordinated signage. The goal is to make Vulture more easily accessible and immediately identifiable along major traffic junctions, with a shared message connecting wine, oil, landscape, and hospitality.

The presence of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene area, involved in the opening day as another key wine-growing area, also sparked a dialogue between diverse experiences united by the awareness that wine can become a tool for territorial, cultural, and economic promotion.

For Cantine del Notaio, this recognition represents an important step, not only for the promotion of Aglianico del Vulture, but for the entire regional system. The winery, founded in Rionero in Vulture by Gerardo Giuratrabocchetti to revitalize this grape variety and its place of origin, sees the Città Italiana del Vino project as an opportunity to strengthen the narrative of Vulture as a destination, a productive community, and a heritage to be shared. This project is part of a period of significant investment in enhancing and enhancing knowledge of the region, which at the entrepreneurial level has seen the opening of a Wine Museum at Cantine del Notaio this year. The museum aims to offer a journey into rural civilization , narrated through cutting-edge tools that integrate digitalization and artificial intelligence to make the experience more engaging.

The two-year period 2026-2027 will therefore be an opportunity for Vulture, with the joint work of municipalities, institutions, consortia, and businesses, to make the area and its history more recognizable and transform its identity into shared value.