Basilisco is an organic estate winery in Barile in the Aglianico del Vulture region of Basilicata in the south of Italy. Basilisco was founded in the early 1990s and in 2015 was acquired by Feudi di San Gregorio which is based in Campania but now has wineries in several Italian regions.
Staff: Viviana Malafarina manages the winery. Pierpaolo Sirch is responsible for the vineyards.
Vineyards: 2017 25 hectares (62 acres) in Barile of which 23 hectares (56.8 acres) were red and 2 hectares (4.9 acres) were white. The vineyards face south-east and lie on volcanic soils (tuff and flysch) at between 450-600 metres (1,476-1,970 feet). The oldest vines are grown to the ‘capanno’ system.
Winemaking: The grapes are hand picked. The winery is located in Via delle Cantine, in a 16th-century palazzo or nobleman’s house. The wines are made and stored in a series of eight caves which date to the 15th-century. Film director Pier Paolo Pasolini chose these caves to set his 1964 Biblical drama ‘Il Vangelo secondo Matteo’ (The Gospel according to Saint Matthew). The caves were dug in the 15th-century by Albanian refugees who settled here, having fled from their homeland in the Balkans and invading Ottoman Turks. Barile is an arbereshe (Italio-Albanian ethnic group) settlement. The caves facing North have a stable 16-18 °C degrees temperature, and they’ve always been used for processing and storing oil and wine.
Other activities: Olive and fruit trees.
Organic certification: 2015 Full organic certification for the first time.
White wines
Bianco, Sophia: “Sophia” comes from in Greek Σοφία meaning knowledge, awareness. Made from 1 hectare (2.47 acres) of Fiano grown in Barile at 480 metres (1,575 feet). South-south-east facing. Volcanic, tuffaceous, clayey soil. Guyot pruned. | 2015 Fermented in stainless steel. Lacked clarity (Millésime Bio 2017).
Red wines
Aglianico del Vulture DOCG, Teodosio: Named after a Byzantine emperor. From 6 hectares (14.8 acres) of vines in Barile at 500 metres (1,640 feet). S-SE. Volcanic, tuffaceous, clayey soil. Guyot.
Aglianico del Vulture DOCG, Basilisco: “Basilisco” means “little King” in Greek alluding to the Byzantium Empire when “Basilicata” was literally “land of the Basileus”, or land of the King. From 4 hectares (9.9 acres) of vines in Barile at 500 metres (1,640 feet). S-SE facing. Volcanic, tuffaceous, clayey soil. Guyot and ‘capanno’ (caned tripod). | 2015 Still in wood, tasted rather extracted (Millésime Bio 2017).
Contact
Basilisco
85022 Barile (PZ), Italy
Website: www.basiliscovini.it