Called to greatness
What makes Basilisco so distinctive? Aglianico wines full of character from ungrafted vines that are over 80 years old.
Basilisco? This is a single great declaration of love for the Aglianico, an ancient grape variety that is called to greatness – especially when it flourishes on the barren slopes of the extinct Vulture volcano in Basilicata. The vines of this ancient variety at Basilisco are over 80 years old, and many have not been grafted. The wines are matured in beautiful tufa caves in what is known as the Shesh of Barile, dug out of the mountain by Albanian refugees many centuries ago.
The winemaker Viviana Malafarina, the soul of Basilisco, came to winemaking in a roundabout way but has become a total devotee of the Aglianico. «I want to condense landscapes, colours and aromas into the wine and capture them as a message in the bottle,» she says. Her wines are in effect proud ambassadors of the Basilicata: complex, well-structured, profound, very long-lasting and incredibly elegant. Big wines from the south, which take time to develop their great potential. But they are well worth the wait!
«We have ungrafted Aglianico vines that are over 80 years old.»
Viviana Malafarina
Oenologist
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