2011 Aglianico del Vulture Il Sigillo

One of Basilicata’s few well-known wine estates, Cantina del Notaio owns 30 hectares in five comune in the Aglianico del Vulture production zone: Maschito, Ripacandida, Barile, Ginestra, and Rionero. Founded in 1998, it produces more than 400,000 bottles a year out of its new state-of-the-art cellar, built in 2007 in Ripacandida. The old winery is housed in a building in Rionero that is especially worthy of a visit because of the many old cellars (dating back to the 1600s) situated beneath it. Owner Gerardo Giuratrabocchetti has cleaned up the cellars and established a truly interesting museum loaded with old agricultural implements and machinery, plus some amazing, charming nativity scenes. Giuratrabocchetti’s wines all carry names referring to his father’s notary practice (for example, La Firma, meaning “the signature” or L’Atto, meaning “the contract”). Rather than specific expressions of terroir, they are mostly the result of different harvest dates. For example, the grapes for the Aglianico del Vulture La Firma are picked roughly two weeks after those used to make the Aglianico del Vulture Il Repertorio; those used to make the Aglianico del Vulture Il Rogito are picked two weeks later than those of La Firma, and are left to hang so long (weather permitting) that they air-dry directly on the vine, giving an Amarone-like wine.