Tenuta i Gelsi was started in 2003 to enhance the family’s viticultural heritage in one of the most enchanting corners of Basilicata for the beauty of its nature and landscapes.

It is named after the centuries-old mulberries plants (in Italian “Gelsi”) that run along the estate entrance path, planted for the collection of the fruits, but especially of their leaves, used to feed the silkworm which was bred there in the sixties.

We are in Rionero in Vulture, in the province of Potenza, Monticchio Bagni area, close to the famous volcanic lakes and the springs where some of the most appreciated Italian mineral and oligomineral waters originate.

This is the side of the Vulture that overlooks the Ofanto Valley at about 450 meters above sea level, where the Pleistocene alkaline (sodium-potassic) volcanic deposits, made of easily alterable pyroclastites and lavas, originated dark colluvial deposits mixed with pre-existing clay-sandy sedimentary soils.

Here is where Ruggiero Potito, along with his family, firmly believed in the power of his land to give incredibly precious fruits. The vineyard, which has always been the king of these lands, has been his passion since his teenage years, bringing to life a company whose main purpose is to properly value this great and ancient viticulture.

“We identify with our most important grape, Aglianico del Vulture, introverted, rough, harsh but as well able to show great sweetness and delicacy as time passes”. With these words Ruggiero Potito describes his relationship with his history and the viticulture of his land.