Grottino di Roccanova is an Italian wine DOC of the Basilicata wine region in the deep south of Italy. The title, one of the youngest Italian DOCs, was introduced in July 2009. It covers red, white and rose wines from a particularly hilly south-eastern area of the region's Potenza province.
The red and rose wines produced under this title are made predominantly from Sangiovese (the 'Blood of Jove'), Italy's most widely planted wine grape variety. It must constitute between 60% and 85% of any Grottino di Roccanova wine blend, and the remaining proportion shared equally between Malvasia Nera, Montepulciano and Cabernet Sauvignon. The latter is an obvious import to the region from Bordeaux, and its inclusion is a sign of the DOC's modernity and commercial awareness; few varieties have a name as instantly marketable as Cabernet Sauvignon.
The white wines, Grottino di Roccanova Bianco, are based on Malvasia Bianca, which accounts for at least 80% of the uvaggio (the list of varieties used to make a particular wine, known in French as an encepagement). The remaining fifth may be made up from any non-aromatic white grape variety sanctioned for use under the Basilicata region's wine production laws.
The catchment area of this DOC centers around three communes: Sant'Arcangelo, Castronuovo di Sant'Andrea Potenza and the Roccanova cited in the title. This is a relatively constrained geographical area, given the hilly nature of the terrain among the southern Apennine mountains. This creates the ideal growing conditions for the grapes used to make these wines; with such complex topography and the climatic conditions it gives rise to, the local viticulturalists have been able to isolate some very precise patches of terroir. Due to the lack of development, winemakers have not faced the challenges of wine regions on the fringes of expanding suburbia (like Beaune in Burgundy, Bandol and Bellet in Provence and Limmatal in Switzerland).
In 2008 the local government in Basilicata conducted a survey to estimate the average profitability of agricultural land in their region. The most productive by far was the land given over to vineyards, particularly those producing Aglianico del Vulture wines. Even olive growing, another key industry in southern Italy, was shown to be significantly less profitable, generating less than one half of the revenue per hectare of Aglianico grapes. Basilicata is battling poverty, unemployment and migration to the more prosperous north, so the value of agricultural land is of crucial interest to the local people – and wine seems to be a strong part of their future.
