The I Sassi Aglianco del Vulture is made exclusively for Siema Wines by the prestigious wine estate Donato D'Angelo in the heart of the growing region of Basilicata, the nearly land-locked growing region wedged among Campania, Calabria, and Puglia. The name I Sassi comes from the name of the region. The capital of the province is Matera and the original settlement lies in two canyons carved by the Gravina River. This area, the Sassi di Matera, is a complex of cave dwellings carved into the ancient river canyon. Over the course of its history, Matera has been occupied by Greeks, Romans, Longobards, Byzantines, Saracens, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese, and Bourbons.   

Aglianico has been grown in Campania for thousands of years and was used by the Romans for making their wines. For centuries it proliferated but was almost destroyed by phylloxera and was even on the verge of extinction. Before phylloxera, Aglianico was one of the most widely planted varieties throughout the south of Italy. After phylloxera, the grape survived in small quantities in more or less isolated areas of the south, principally around Rionero del Vulture in Basilicata, around Avellino, Benevento, Caserta and Salerno in Campania.

Azienda D'Angelo was founded in the 1930's by Rocco D'Angelo. Initially the winery only exported their Aglianico grapes in bulk to Northern Italy, but in 1971, the region’s official DOC was established and the winery started to make its own wine. The estate is located in the classic production area of the Avianca del Vulture between Rionero, Barile, Rapolla, and Ripacandida and have about 40 hectares of vineyards.

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