Basilicata is a new frontier for great Italian wines. And the Italian Wine Group (Giv) invests again

The diversity of Italian wine is a wealth of vines and territories that are still not well known around the world, and instead have great potential. That is, if the wineries and businesses believe in them. One of these pearls to be discovered has the legitimate ambition of becoming part of the great Italian territories and wines: the Basilicata region. It is the top player of a wine business uproar that has found fertile ground especially in the Vulture area, and its vine mainstay is Aglianico. Historical and “local” businesses work in the territory and recently great Italian wine names from other territories, like the Venetian family Tommasi, of Paternoster, the Campania group Feudi di San Gregorio of Basilisco, have also invested.
There are also those who have focused on wine for more than 20 years in Basilicata, like the Italian Wine Group (GIV), the largest winemaking company in Italy. In 1998, the wine group created one of the most important wineries in the viticulture of Lucania, Re Manfredi - Terre degli Svevi, in Venosa. Today, GIV is continuing to invest in the territory (it recently opened the Locanda Re Manfredi, ed.). The group has a significant budget available, between 3 and 4 million euros, to grow the estate and the brand. Corrado Casoli, president of the Italian Wine Group, explained to WineNews, “We are convinced that Basilicata and Vulture have all the characteristics to make great wines, especially red wines. We found this excellent company here, Re Manfredi, (led by Paolo Montrone, who is also at the helm of the Enoteca Regionale Lucana, ed.), over 100 hectares of vineyards in the Vulture area, very suitable to make quality wines. We are aiming high because we believe this territory is still a bit virgin, nature reigns supreme, and there is great potential. We further believe that Aglianico is destined to be one of the great Italian vines and wines. This volcanic territory has the characteristics to yield great red wines, and it has great aging capacity”.
It is the standard bearer of Lucanian wine, which according to many, has the potential to stand on its own for quality, and on a par with the more famous Barolo or Brunello di Montalcino. “If we are interested in enhancing this territory”, concluded Casoli, “we must focus on its products. Aglianico is its king, and together with the other wines in the territory it can make Basilicata known as the new frontier for great Italian wines”.