Treat your taste buds to an exploration of Matera!

Do you know the history of Matera its culture and food and wine heritage?

This year Matera was (finally) nominated European Capital of Culture…. we say 'finally' because as would be the case with so many marvellous villages and amazing landscapes off the beaten track, it's only right that Matera be in the world's spotlight for a time. So a warm welcome to this accolade for the home of the famous Sassi!

So how did Matera come about? The first palaeolithic community settled literally in the rock, first in natural caves and then in ones cut out by hand within two big natural amphitheatres, Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano, from which the whole city was subsequently carved to become the spectacle which we all enjoy today and which rightly retains the status of a Unesco World Heritage Site. Matera is absolutely worth a visit, a few days' stay made all the better by its stylish but cosy hotels and seriously hip restaurants.The surrounding tufaceous and adaptable terrain is ideal for an arrogant and testy variety such as Aglianico and is home to multi-award-winning wineries producing structured and long-lasting red wines.

Aglianico is one of the great southern grapes and rightly known for a long time as the Barolo of the south. In Basilicata it is at its noblest near the Vulture volcano where the land is fertile and rich in micro-elements, an area renowned for its luminosity, lush vegetation, the cleanest of water and a continuous cooling breeze; perfect conditions for growing vines! The wine we can expect from here is of rich, red colour with thick, elegant tannins, intense, intriguing and perfect for aging.

The big plus for the Sassi has always been the way they can keep temperatures stable in a place which has a continental climate, strange for this part of Basilicata where the winters are harsh, the snow sometimes covering the landscape from the 1300-metre-high slopes of the extinct Vulture volcano down to where the vines stretch out on the valley floor. The summers are warm but with big day-night temperature swings so that, believe it or not, two white grape varieties are cultivated here which are normally only found in mountainous areas. Gewurztraminer and Muller Thurgau take full advantage of the warm days which promote their ripening but, at the same time, the cool nights lengthen the ripening period strengthening the aromas in the fruit. The result is a white wine which is intensely fruity and tropical on the nose, with notes of lychee, rose and aromatic herbs, a perfect balance in the mouth between a zesty, citrus-fruit feel and a velvety texture.

If you want to step up your extrasensory experience, get organized and book early for a bite to eat at the Taverna Re Manfredi. You can't really call yourself a foodie until you've tried some really genuine Basilicata (Lucana) cooking: baccala` and crunchy, dried peppers; Cavatelli burnt wheat pasta; Lagane pasta and chickpeas. Or perhaps you prefer to wander round the world of cheese - pecorino, less or more mature as you like, or if you prefer to go for stronger flavors, how about ordering "Gnumaridd" (which we'll translate for you: roast or boiled rolls of lamb innards)?

If you like red wines disguised as rose`, or rather those light-looking rose` wines but with an intensity on the nose and in the mouth, just right for summer aperitifs by the pool but also to match with recipes full of tasty ingredients, or a meat dish, then there's Re Manfredi Rosa!

Why not drink it with with sweet chickpea calzoncelli filled with ricotta or ragu of lamb. or roast chicken stuffed with liver and bacon (ripieno alla lucana). Write to us if you want the recipe!

We advise you to start off your exploration of Matera by slowing down, switching off your mobile, letting yourself get carried away by the unreal atmosphere, lazily strolling the narrow streets, taking a look up now and then to be inspired not only by the rugged beauty of your surroundings but also by the innumerable cultural and musical events that have been planned for this special year.