Rionero in Vulture and Aglianico wine

Wine & Volcanos

Rionero in Vulture, in the province of Potenza rises on the slopes of Mount Vulture surrounded by natural beauty and fascinating history.

The volcano catches the attention for its isolated location and its conic shape, still visible despite erosion. It hasn’t been active for about 140 millions years. Its last eruption must have been horrendous: the mountain’s base is 27 sqm wide and materials from the eruption can be found 25 km away from the crater.
Today the mountain is only 1326 m high but in the past it was certainly higher.

Only 150 years ago, Vulture was a wild territory, inhabited mainly by shepherds and woodcutters. In its thick forest hid undisturbed fearsome brigands such as Carmine Crocco also called Donatello, one of the most famous outlaws of the XIX century, who was born here in the 1830s.

Today it is a paradise for trekkers, bikers and mushroom hunters.

The red wine from this valley was already appreciated by the ancient Greeks and venerated by the Latin poet Oratio, also venerated in the courts of the Angevins. Today Rionero is one of the main wine production centers of Aglianico del Vulture. The volcanic soil in the area is formed of tuff, this spongy and light rock, dozens of meters deep, guaranteeing survival to the vineyards even in the hottest summers.
The vineyards extend up to 900 meters high and the harvest ends in late November.
Aglianico del Vulture summarizes, in its tannic and complex taste, the power of this land. That’s why recently it has been named the “Barolo of the South”.

Rionero’s underground resembles a swiss cheese: pierced by more than 1000 wine cellars which run under the city.

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