Tenuta del Portale

A family tradition dating to the early 20th century

The D’Angelo family has worked as Lucanian winegrowers since the beginning of the 1900s. This long relationship with vineyards and cellar work forms the background to Tenuta del Portale, whose labels are conceived as accounts of family memories, anecdotes and experiences accumulated through a century of winegrowing.

1990: foundation of Tenuta del Portale

Tenuta del Portale was established in 1990 through the D’Angelo family’s passion for wine. The new estate was created in Basilicata, at Rionero in Vulture, in the heart of the Aglianico del Vulture production area. Its founding ambition was to interpret the distinctive qualities of Aglianico del Vulture and communicate the traditions and values of the Vulture territory.

The contemporary estate

The estate now cultivates 15 ha of vineyards influenced by the extinct Monte Vulture volcano and produces approximately 150,000 bottles annually. Its six-label portfolio explores different expressions of the area: five labels based entirely on Aglianico, including a rosé, and one white made entirely from Malvasia.

Location and landscape

Tenuta del Portale lies at Rionero in Vulture in northern Basilicata, close to the borders with Puglia and Campania and within the principal production area for Aglianico del Vulture. The territory is dominated by Monte Vulture, a 1,326 m volcano that became extinct thousands of years ago. Its landscape includes seven hills, two volcanic lakes, extensive woodland, historic brigand shelters, castles and churches set above the water.

Volcanic soils

The estate’s 15 ha of vineyards occupy the slopes influenced by Monte Vulture. The soils are volcanic, fertile and mineral-rich. Their porous, sponge-like structure retains and supplies water to the vines over the course of the year.

Climate

The growing environment is cool and dry, with pronounced temperature variation during summer. Ventilated hillsides, relatively moderate winters and cool summers suit Aglianico’s long vegetative cycle.

Aglianico and the Vulture environment

Aglianico has a slow growing season that continues until the end of October. The combination of volcanic soils, ventilation, cool and dry conditions and substantial summer temperature shifts provides the setting in which Tenuta del Portale explores the variety’s different expressions.

Aglianico is the estate’s principal variety and accounts for five of its six labels. It follows a slow vegetative cycle that concludes near the end of October. The variety is grown in the ventilated, hilly environment of Monte Vulture, where the climate is cool and dry and summer brings marked temperature variation. Malvasia supplies the fruit for the estate’s sole white expression.

Tenuta del Portale presents itself as both a guardian of an inherited tradition and a promoter of the Vulture territory. Its founding purpose is to interpret the distinctive qualities of Aglianico del Vulture while conveying local traditions and values.

The estate treats each label as a narrative connected to family memories, vineyard life and cellar experience. Its portfolio is conceived as a journey through different expressions of Aglianico del Vulture, with the wines serving as points of entry into the family’s relationship with the world of wine.

Monte Vulture is central to this identity: the extinct volcano is understood not merely as a landmark but as the defining natural influence on the vineyards and their wines.