Geography & Climate
Basilicata is a region in the south of Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia (Puglia) to the north and east, and Calabria to the south, having one short south-western coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania in the north-west and Calabria in the south-east, and a longer one to the south-east on the Gulf of Taranto on the Ionian Sea between Calabria in the south-west and Apulia in the north-east. The region can be thought of as the "instep" of Italy, with Calabria functioning as the "toe" and Apulia the "heel". The region covers 9,992 km2 and in 2008 had a population of less than 600,000 inhabitants. The regional capital is Potenza. The region is divided into two provinces: Potenza and Matera.
Basilicata covers an extensive part of the southern Apennines, between me Ofanto in the north and the Monte Pollino massif in the south. It is bordered on the east by a large part of the Brandon river depression which is traversed by numerous streams and declines to the coastal plains on the Ionian sea. The region has a short coastline on the Tyrrhenian side of the peninsula.
Basilicata is the most mountainous region in the south of Italy, with 47% of its area of 9,992 km2 covered by mountains, whereas 45% is hilly and 8% is made up of plains.
Geological features of the region include the volcanic Monte Vulture and the seismic faults in the Melfi and Potenza areas in the north and around Monte Pollino in the south. Much of the region was devastated in an 1857 earthquake. There is also a problem of landslides, which are caused not only by the lithological structure of the substratum and its chaotic tectonic deformation, but also by the lack of foresty land.
The variable climate is influenced by three coastlines (Adriatic, Ionian and Tyrrhenian) and the complexity of the region's physical features. The climate is continental in the mountains and Mediterranean along the coasts [source: Wikipedia].
Wines
Although Basilicata produces only one DOC wine, the quality of it is such that it ranks at the forefront among the best known and appreciated Italian reds. Aglianico, the name of the original grape, is a corruption of the word "Hellenic" or Greek. In fact, as there are no native grapes in this region, the plant was brought over by the Greeks when they settled there in pre-Roman times. The result is that this grape was made into wine long before many native varieties in the northern regions.
The Greeks planted many vines in the zones around the Mount Volture from which some of the best Aglianico still comes today. The single DOC, Aglianico del Volture, was named after this area as well.
