Basilicata Aglianico Eruption #ItalianFWT
Basilicata Who?
If there’s ever an under-the-radar Italian region, Basilicata is it. Located in the instep of the boot of Italy, it’s not a big tourism area, or an area of commerce. No big cities. Very little access to the coast. With one exception, wines from Basilicata are not heard of or seen outside the region. The shining star of Basilicata is the Aglianico grape, grown on the slopes of the extinct volcano, Mt. Vulture.
One grape, three very different wines, all grown on the slopes of Mt. Vulture
Aglianico del Vulture
Aglianico is a grape not seen very much outside of Italy (except for here and here). In Italy, it’s grown in Campania and Basilicata. In Basilicata, the Aglianico vineyards are all on the lower slopes of extinct Mt. Vulture. Aglianico del Vulture is quite highly regarded, but I found the styles vary widely, from distinctly traditional to very modern international.
L’Atto was the simplest wine, but very accessible
Cantine del Notaio L’Atto Basilicata IGT 2013 ($27 at South Lyndale Liquors)
Eye: Clear, medium intensity ruby color
Nose: Blue fruit, fresh, a touch of pine tar in the background.
Mouth: Medium body, good acidity and medium + tannins. Nice length to the finish.
This was the easiest drinking of our three Aglianico’s. A bit of oak influence, but not overwhelming. This was the group favorite wine both by itself and with the meal.
Made in a very modern style, the Pipoli was not my personal favorite
Vigneti del Vulture “Pipoli” Aglianico del Vulture DOC 2010 ($18 at Zipp’s Liquors)
Aged 10 months in 60% stainless and 40% 2nd year barriques.
Eye: Clear, ruby, deep intensity.
Nose: Excessive oak notes, smoky, vanilla overwhelms the fruit.
Mouth: Medium+ body, strong tannins, acidity is moderate. Long finish
This was a well made wine, but I just didn’t like the flavor. Clearly crafted for the international palette, I thought the oak overwhelmed the other flavors.
A very traditional interpretion, I was impressed with this wine.
D’Angelo Rionero in Vulture Aglianico del Vulture 2012 ($17 at South Lyndale Liquors)
According to the winery, this wine is aged in “big barrels” for 20 months.
Eye: Clear, but a touch of cloudiness (unfiltered?). Deep intensity ruby in color.
Nose: Fresh dark blue fruit, a touch of rosemary, balsamic vinegar.
Mouth: Dark rosemary herbal impression, strong tannins, medium + acidity. Nice long finish.
This was my favorite of the Aglianico del Vultures tasted. Oak is well integrated in the background, very nice with food.
Semolina Cavatelli
Pasta in southern Italy is likely to avoid any use of eggs and relies almost entirely on the flour and water with just a tiny amount of other ingredients. Cavatelli is very typical all over southern Italy. Take some time on a Sunday afternoon to try your hand at making your own! (click on any photo below to view as a slide show)
The ridges and curves hold the rich sauce
Was one wine better?
Wine Pairing – Semolina Cavatelli with Beef Ragù
Cavatelli pasta are made for Beef Ragù, the curved form and all those ridges are perfect for holding the sauce. We finished the dish with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and fresh thyme leaves. The thyme provided a pretty green highlight and fresh herbal aromatics to top the rich flavors.
As for the wine pairing, everyone enjoyed the L’Atto as an easygoing wine with enough depth to stand up to the chewy texture of the pasta and the deep, meaty ragù. With a traditional palette, I thought the D’Angelo was perfect with the dish. Even though I didn’t care for the Pipoli on its’ own, it was nice enough with the dish. All the wines had the structure and tannins to pair with this rich pasta dish.
#ItalianFWT bloggers weigh in on Basilicata
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Cooking Chat – Pasta with Pecorino and Bacon Plus Wine Pairing
The Wining Hour – Basilicata Aglianico and Veal Osso Bucco
Are you a homemade pasta fan? Buy this book.
Recipes for Semolina Cavatelli with Beef Ragù
With just a bit of searching you can find a variety of recipes for semolina cavatelli and beef ragù on the web. If you’re a fan of handmade pasta, I can highly recommend Pasta by Hand by Jenn Louis. Jenn’s book includes recipes for handmade pasta from each region in Italy as well as a number of simple sauces. I love regional recipes! For Basilicata, Jenn recommends semolina cavatelli with a ragù sauce.
Ingredients (measure by weight for the best, most consistent results) InstructionsSemolina Cavatelli
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[…] Wine & Travel (#ItalianFWT) explorations, I’ve sampled Aglianico based wines from both Basilicata and Campania, two regions in Southern Italy. I was curious to try the wines “head to […]
foodwineclick 
Good idea to sample three different wines from the region to get some compare and contrast going. The pasta and meat sauce seems like a tasty pairing for the wines.
Thanks, David. The wines were a great match as the pasta was both rich from the ragu and chewy due to the thickness of the pasta. I was prepared for the wines, as I had read about style changes over the recent past. It was still surprising to see just how different they were, and all due to differences in the cellar!
As always, Jeff, your post has me starving and ready to uncork some wine…and it’s not even 7 o’clock here! Cheers. I am definitely going to have to track down some Basilicata wine now.
Yes, absolutely!
Awesome. You rocked it again Jeff! Which wine did you enjoy the most? Your dish looks spectacular as always. Cheers.
Thanks, Michelle. I’m very firmly in the traditional camp, especially regarding oak. The D’Angelo was my fave, and the L’Atto was also good and the crowd favorite.
Bravo on the homemade cavatelli. I love watching your preparation of dishes and your creativity. There’s nothing like having the opportunity to sample multiples styles of one grape to get a feel for its characteristics and the differences producer to producer.
Thanks, Jen. I do love opening multiple bottles to see similarities and differences.
I love that photo of the wine in the snow! I am so impressed with your homemade pasta. I took a class in Italy and learned how…but never did it here! Looks delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks! Handmade pasta is definitely not a weekday evening event, but the hand’s on work is very therapeutic. Plus, now I have some handmade pasta in the freezer for a weekday evening!
I tasted an Aglianico del Vulture when we did the volcano theme for #WinePW. I was very impressed with it. We enjoyed it a lot. I have made gnocchi before, but I use a fork. I like your gnocchi board.
Thanks Lori. The gnocchi board was a hit with both my daughter (my hand model in the blog photos) and me.
We did a few producer visits in Vulture when we were in Basilicata in August. I had heard of Aglianico via Taurasi; often called ‘the Barolo of the south’. The first producer we visited, Grifalco (their base wine is fantastic, BTW), the son told us that he preferred the Aglianico of Vulture because it is softer and more elegant. I can imagine that once the word starts to get out about Vulture we’ll be hearing Barbaresco comparisons! Cheers!