August
29, 2005
A
Guide to the Wines of Basilicata
IJournalist
and wine writer Luciano Pignataro has published the first
complete guide to the wines of Basilicata, Guida Completa
ai Vini della Basilicata (Edizioni Ippogrifo). Pignataro,
author of a ground-breaking guide to the wines of Campania,
has collected profiles of 43 wineries and 170 wines produced
in the region. The book was not subsidized by advertisers
and contains unbiased profiles of the region's leading winemakers,
their wines, and descriptions of the region's DOCs. It also
includes information on wine bars and 70 of the region's leading
restaurants. The guide will be available for purchase on August
29, 2005.
Nestled between Campania (to the west), Puglia (to the
east), and Calabria (to the south), Basilicata lies literally
in the heart of southern Italy. From the shadows of the
Vulture [VOOL-too-reh] volcano in northern Basilicata, quality
wines have begun to emerge on the international scene.
Basilicata's most famous wine, Aglianico del Vulture, is
made of Aglianico grapes grown in the northern part of the
region in vineyards surrounding the volcano. It is believed
that Aglianico was brought to Italy by the Greeks. Legend
has it that when the Romans discovered and favored the varietal,
they called it Hellenic or Ellenico, meaning "Greek,"
the origin of the grape's name, Aglianico.
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