SOUTHERN ITALY, etc.

As prosperity trickles down Italy, the vast "south" is experiencing the same sort of revolution experienced by the north.  The north simply has had a head start by about a decade or so. 

Prices of wines produced in the famous northern regions have escalated.  People arrive in the shop saying they are "looking for a good $20 Barolo."  My response is "Me too!"

This is why a look at new and emerging quality wines is worth the "trouble."

Some of the grape varieties cultivated in the south offer characteristics which are different from those in Northern Italia (or anywhere else, for that matter).

  
SOME SUNNY WINES  FROM ITALY

CASALE DEL GIGLIO

This little enterprise began as a family-operated wine shop in Rome back in the early 1900s and from there, things spiraled out of control into a wine producing business with more than 160 hectares of vineyards in the Lazio town of Latina some 30 miles south of The Eternal City.  The family operated some eleven shops featuring wine and olive oils.  Today they have just one, Collegio, still located in the Piazza Capranica in Rome.

It's the work of the Santarelli family and these days Antonio Santarelli is at the helm, having been found in 1985 in a locale where wine was relatively scarce.  In fact, we understand the family farm had been mostly marsh and swamp land until they planted something like five dozen experimental grape varieties.  As a result their roster of wines is quite varied with all sorts of unexpected grape varieties.

You probably do not expect to find Tempranillo in Italy, but this winery makes a curious bottling, featuring allowing the grapes to dehydrate on the vine, an old process which had been employed in hopes of concentrating or intensifying the character.  

Casale del Giglio also cultivates Viognier and Petit Manseng, along with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.    There are Bordeaux grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot.  There's a bottling of Syrah which goes by the Shiraz designation and you'll find Syrah blended with Petit Verdot.  

Our interest in this estate is their Cesanese wine.  This is a red grape of great importance to the Lazio wine scene.  The red grapes often found in Lazio are either French-rooted varieties or Italy's own Sangiovese.

 

The Cesanese grape is a bit fussy, being a late-ripening variety.  It doesn't typically produce a wine of dark color and there's a fragrance of flowers and cherries, so if this sounds a bit like Pinot Noir, you're on the right track.    The skins are macerated with the juice all through the fermentation and then maybe another week or two beyond in hopes of extracting the maximum character.
Perhaps that extended skin contacts accounts for some of the spice tones of this wine.

It's an elegant red and nicely drinkable upon release.  We have the 2021 presently...lovely bottle of red...delicious!

It can pair with typical Roman fare...pizza, of course...lighter pastas...grilled lamb...

Currently in stock:  2021 CASALE DEL GIGLIO  CESANESE  $22.99

 

PASETTI    (Tenuta di Testarossa/Tenuta Rossa)

The Abruzzo region catches the warm sun and has the possibility to produce some exceptional red wines.  The Pasetti family has been growing grapes (amongst other crops) for several generations and their "Testarossa" Montepulciano, essentially a 'reserve' quality wine, recently caught our attention.  

 Fittingly, young Francesca Pasetti is a red-head!  But the "Testa Rossa" name has been associated with the Pasetti's for years, since the typical hat of the region worn by the old-timers was a red cap called "cocciarosce."  The family, however, does have a bunch of red heads!

Their wine has been imported to California for many years, but only recently was local vintner, Rob Jensen, upset about the label, feeling it may damage his trademark (California's Testarossa winery).

I gather the winery, located in Los Gatos, California has been fielding queries from people who've tasted the Pasetti wine when dining out.  It's sold by a one-man-band of an importer and he's done well distributing it to Italian restaurants.  Consumers, happy with the wine they've had, use a search engine to find "Testarossa" and "wine" and Jensen's winery comes up.  

As a result of a slightly bitter head-to-head debate over the matter, the local importer had the Pasetti's change the label slightly and now, if you're eagle-eyed, you'll see it's called "Tenuta Rossa."  This should placate Mr. Jensen, to whom I suggested he change the name of his brand to "Testa Grigio," since he no longer has the red hair he had in his youth.  "This would be truth in labeling, Rob." I told him.

The Pasetti's Montepulciano d'Abruzzo comes from older vineyards which feature densely planted vines.  They try to pick the fruit late in the harvest season.  Part of the lot is fermented in stainless steel, part in wood.  The wine is matured for about two years in oak.  We like the ripe cherry fruit notes and the hint of vanilla and mocha from the oak.  You can sense there's oak here, but the wine is not woody or oaky tasting.  It's reasonably deep and rich.  Drinkable now, this strikingly tall bottle may be cellared for several more years, if you like.




Francesca in the sales room.

"The secret of our Montepulciano is that the best wines are reserved for aging in wood, while lesser wines are sold in bulk to customers who come for a visit."


I found the cellar to be neat and orderly (as it should be).

Large Slavonian oak is used to mature some of the "reserve" wines.

Customers come with empty jugs and demijohns and they "filler 'er up!"
A gas station-like pump and meter measures their purchases.

This wine is a good, everyday red, but their "Tenuta Rossa" label is kept in wood and sold in bottles (what a concept, eh?).  Some of those bottles find their way to Burlingame, California where they are popular with Weimax customers.

People haul their wine back home.


Francesca and her folks in the cellar.

The image above is the original labeling...they sell that in Italy but had to change it for sales in the U.S.
Here, these days, it's labeled as "Tenuta Rossa."

Currently in stock: TENUTA (TESTA) ROSSA 2015 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo  Sold Out...Importer is retiring.  Stay tuned.
Magnums!  Yes!!  Very fancy format...Big, Tall Bottle!  Sold Out

We can special order their deluxe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo called "Harimann".  
They also produce a Trebbiano called Zarache..

"Mimo Pasetti" who has a nice Tenuta but no rossa on his testa.

The whole family in 2015.

 

CIAVOLICH

This is a newish winery despite the fact the Ciavolich family has been there since the 1850s.   The family originates in Bulgaria but came to Italy in the 1500s we're told.  They sold wool way back when and these days they're esteemed winemakers.

They have many stories to tell of each generation, with a winery being built in 1853.  The cellars were occupied by German military personnel in the early 1940s   Tanks, not of the winemaking kind, were parked on the main floor of the winery while the family and farm staffers were allowed to stay in the cellar.  With Allied Foreces making their way north, the German army told everyone they'd better leave and the family fled to Chieti and, eventually Macerata in the Marche region.  

They have vineyards in Loreto Aprutino and Pianella while the winery is in Miglianico.

In Loreto they have 22 hectares of vineyard and they also cultivate grain as well as having quite a few olive trees.  Pianella is home to another 7 hectares of vineyards and more olives. The vineyards, then, are about 30 to 45 minutes from the cellar.


We first met Chiara Ciavolich maybe in 2008, or so.  The wines were well-made and of "good" quality.  We've tasted her wines from time to time and they've been improving.  In 2018 we tasted her wine in Italy and were delighted to find thrilling wines.  She's been on a mission to make her mark and it seems she'd on the right track.

We particularly enjoyed a white wine made of Pecorino as well as a couple of pink wines.  She was interested to see our reaction to a particular red wine she had made a decade ago.  It's called Fosso Cancelli which is some sort of reference to the gates of a ditch of sorts.  
Chiara told us this wine was an idea she had to make some sort of traditionally-styled wine but she was unsure of how it would develop, so she made it in 2007 and 2008 and then stopped, not knowing if the wine would find an audience.
It's made entirely of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and the idea was to leave the wine in a concrete tank for a couple of years.  Then, once bottled, it needed time to mature and hopefully blossom.  This is taking a sort of winemaking strategy you find in the Douro Valley with Port production:  Vintage Port is bottled, typically, after two years and then it's a waiting game.  
Who does this with red wine in Italy?
The answer is "Chiara."

She poured this wine for us and we swirled and sniffed.  
We wrote the word "Barolo!" in our tasting notebook.

It's a pity she hasn't been making this each vintage since, but she didn't have confidence in this little experiment.  She made about 1300 bottles, so there's not a lot of this wine to be had.  
We expressed our admiration for Fosso Cancelli and she was thrilled to have positive feedback.  Chiara said she began making this again a few vintages ago so eventually it will re-appear.  
We have a few bottles of the 2008 in the shop if you want to experience this Abruzzese "Barolo" for yourself.

She's taken on a new importer since we first met and this seems like a good move.

The new company now has the 2017 Pecorino.  This is really delicious and has a fairly complex personality.  
Chiara's father planted one hectare of Pecorino in 2000 and this was a smart move.  The juice is put into temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and it's allowed to settle before they start fermentation.  Once the fermentation is complete, a bit of the wine is racked into seasoned French oak puncheons where it remains on the lees for a few months.  The two lots of wine are married just before bottling and, "ecco!" as they say.  

There's a most intriguing character to this wine.   We find a faint note of honey and a touch of sage, perhaps.  Maybe it's dried flowers?  
Whatever it is, it's delicious and nicely aromatic.

If you're drinking (weak) Pinot Grigio, please give this a try.  
If you're a fan of a crisp Sauvignon Blanc, this might be right up your alley, too.
If you're enthralled with oaky, buttery Chardonnay, you might branch out...but it may not be for you.

Currently in stock:  2017 CIAVOLICH PECORINO  Sold Out
2008 CIAVOLICH "Fosso Cancelli" MONTEPULCIANO D'ABRUZZO $99.99

 

 

 

PERILLO

Located about 7 miles southeast of the town of Taurasi, the vineyards of Michele Perillo comprise something like 4.5 hectares.  Perillo's "secret" is an old clone of the Aglianico grape which is known in the region as Coda di Cavallo or tail of the horse.  It's a shy-bearing vine as the vineyards are close to one hundred years of age.  

They are at a fairly high elevation which affords those vineyard sites quite a good swing in temperatures from daylight hours to night-time.  Perillo is also willing to wait until just the right moment to harvest, allowing the fruit to attain what he feels is the proper level of maturity.

You'll hear people describe Taurasi wines as "the Barolo of the South" and Perillo's wine does share the tannic structure of Aglianico with that of Piemonte's Nebbiolo.  And one curious feature at this tiny family-operated estate is that Perillo allows the wine to mature in bottle longer than most Taurasi vintners.  In 2021 as we write this, we have just received the 2010 vintage.

And the wine is still young!

They do a short cold soak with the grapes and juice before allowing things to warm and for the fermentation to begin.  Then, as with traditionally-styled Barolo (and Aglianico), the juice remains in contact with the skins for 3 or 4 weeks, depending on the vintage.  Following the fermentation the wine first is racked into small barriques for about a year and then into larger wood vats for another year of aging.  The wine then gets substantial time in bottle before Perillo deems it ready for release.

They used to sell their grapes and only in 1999 did they begin making their own wines.  Despite the rather short history of Perillo wine, the estate is viewed as a benchmark for Taurasi.

The 2010 is a great introduction to Taurasi.  It's a medium-full bodied red with dark fruit perfumes and a touch of cacao and spice notes.  It's got a modest level of tannin which allows this to pair handsomely with grilled or roasted red meats.  Braised meats work well with this, too.

Currently in stock:  2010 PERILLO TAURASI  $52.99

Aglianico in the second week of November of 2020...waiting for just the right moment to be picked.


Coda di Cavallo (Aglianico)...notice the sparse bunches and with so many small berries the wine will have a greater skin-to-juice ratio.



Snow in early April!  (2020)

TERREDORA DI PAOLO

"The" great name in Campanian wine history is that of Mastroberardino.  The family makes claims its winemaking endeavors date back to 1720, well before the 13 colonies joined up to declare their independence from Britain.

 

 

 

 

The more recent Mastroberardino history from, say, the 1950s until the 1990s, has been that of keeping the Campanian "candle" lit.  Despite the region having vine-growing and winemaking history going back hundreds, maybe thousands, of years, the region experienced a period of abandonment.  Imagine one of the greatest regions of Italy, with a viticultural history of enormous importance, being abandoned!

The Mastroberardino family is credited with preserving the local grape varieties, especially Greco, Fiano and the red grape, Aglianico.

Over time, the two Mastroberardino brothers (there was actually a third sibling, but he passed away many years ago) and apparently there was a family squabble that caused a "divorce" of sorts.

In the period around 1993, the Mastroberardino brothers split their holdings, with Antonio retaining the Mastroberardino label and winery, while his younger brother Walter built a new winery and retained the vineyard holdings.  Walter's wife Dora's family actually owned a significant percentage of these vineyards, as it turns out.  Her name is Dora di Paolo.  Hence the name "Terredora di Paolo."

So the Mastroberardino brand actually took a bit of a hit in the mid-1990s, as they suddenly had lost their top vineyards.  They've rebounded nicely, as of, say, 2005.  

Meanwhile, Terredora di Paolo was founded in 1994 and today they're producing an impressive line-up of Campanian wines.

One of Walter's kids, Daniela, stopped by the shop in 2013 and was crowing about Campania "not making international wines by cultivating Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet, Merlot or Syrah."  And when you think about the landscape of Italian wines, so many major (and minor) regions have been dabbling with these "foreign" grape varieties in hopes of putting themselves on the world's wine "map."  

And we hear Tuscan winemakers boasting about their Chianti, for example, being 10-15% Cabernet or Merlot as though this makes their wine somehow higher in quality.  Funny, I've never heard a Bordeaux winemaker bragging about blending Sangiovese into their wines!  

What grape varieties can be used to "improve" Campanian wines?  Do you think Aglianico wines would be enhanced by blending in Merlot?  Could Chardonnay make a Fiano or Greco more complex?  

Happily, up to now at least, Campanian vintners have remained loyal to their remarkable local varieties.  And both Mastroberardino families continue to adhere to this tradition.

In tasting through the Terredora line-up, you won't find a single clunker.  Every wine is well-made and shows a measure of attention to detail in the vineyard.

We have a couple of their wines in stock.  

The 2015 Greco di Tufo was a delight.  The Greco grape was originally grown on the slopes of Vesuvius and these days, in the area of Avellino, it goes by the "Greco di Tufo" name.  There is, by the way, a town in the region called "Tufo."
We view this sort of wine as something to drink in its youth, but Daniela Mastroberardino explained that their Fiano and Greco wines actually can cellar quite handsomely for much longer than most people expect.  
Anyway, if you don't know Campania's Greco, this is a good one to try.  The wine is vinified in stainless steel and gets a bit of aging on the spent yeast sediment.  The resulting wine is nicely acidic, dry and fairly crisp.  You might find some stony, minerally notes along with a hint of pear and citrus.  
Match this with appetizers as a cocktail white or pair it with grilled or fried seafood.  

They make a spectacular bottle of Fiano di Avellino.  Their regular bottling is perfectly nice, too, but we're more enthused with the Greco di Tufo for that style of wine.

There's a special bottling of Fiano called "CampoRe," located on a vineyard site in Lapio.  This is about a half hour drive from Avellino and a bit more than an hour by car from Napoli.

The juice is fermented in oak and then half is put in stainless steel and the other half remains in wood for about half a year.  Then they two lots are blended back together producing a remarkably complex Fiano which demonstrates this grape has some "stuff."  

We like the mix of fruit and woodsy elements.  There's the toasty quality from its barrel time, but the fruit tones are reminiscent of ripe pear with a touch of lemon.  If a winemaker from Burgundy were going to vinify Fiano, this is what the wine would be like.  It's a great match for a seafood risotto, but all sorts of fish and shellfish can pair handsomely with this.  
We have the 2010 vintage in stock and the wine is just reaching its peak, we think.  It may be one of those sleepers which can be given extended bottle aging, though.  

We found their entry-level Taurasi to be especially inviting and the wine is offered at a most attractive price.
Compared to the production of Greco di Tufo, this wine is relatively 'rare'!

Taurasi, by the way, is made entirely of Aglianico.  No Bordeaux varieties or Syrah to fortify the wine or make it taste more 'familiar' to wine drinkers around the world who find Cabernet to be the center of the enological universe.

It must be aged for at least three years to get the Taurasi appellation with a minimum of 12 months in either chestnut or oak cooperage.  The 2013 spent approximately two years in French and Slavonian oak, but the wood is merely a 'seasoning' for the wine.  It doesn't overwhelm the fruit and mild spice notes of the Aglianico grape, though it gives a hint of sweet brown spices. 

We live in a world where local vintners have moderately tannic Cabernets on the market from two vintages ago, so it's a delight to visit a type of wine which gets a good deal of bottle aging before it comes to the market (and your dinner table).

The Terredora Taurasi is not an old-fashioned, rustic Italian red.  It's charming at this stage and a delight with grilled or roasted meats, stews or aged, aromatic cheeses such as Parmigiano or Gorgonzola.

Currently in stock:  2015 TERREDORA DI PAOLO Greco di Tufo Sold Out
2013 TERREDORA DI PAOLO TAURASI  SALE  $34.99 
2010 TERREDORA DI PAOLO FIANO "CampoRe"  Sold Out

Daniela Mastroberardino visiting us in July of 2022.

CANTINE LONARDO (Contrade di Taurasi)

This magnificent little winery is a labor of love and it's run by the Lonardo family with the help of some enologists, ampelographers, microbiologists and a vineyard guy, not to mention (but we will anyway) various family members.

Alessandro Lonardo founded this little enterprise in 1998.  Today it's owned by his daughter Enza, who's a stem-cell researcher at an institute in Naples.  Her sister Antonella also helps with the business, as does Antonella's husband, Flavio.

The enterprise also serves as a bit of a research lab, which should not be surprising since Enza is a researcher and Flavio is an archaeologist.   Their friends and associates have worked on vineyard and vine studies, as well as working on examining various yeasts (ultimately finding, as they expected, that indigenous yeasts yielded more satisfying, complex wines).  
If you're having difficulties sleeping, they have a bunch of research papers on these subjects.  Click Here if you want to read one of these papers...I can assure you, you'll be asleep by the second page!

They own 4 hectares of vineyards and rent an additional hectare.  Aglianico is their main grape, of course, but they cultivate a bit of Rovello Bianco.   It's amusing to see their web site and find numerous articles about this perfectly okay dry white wine that gets more attention, in my opinion, for its rarity than for its quality.  It's a pleasant enough wine, but it doesn't strike me as being as complex as a great Riesling or good Sauvignon Blanc or White Burgundy, for example.  

And their Taurasi wines get some good press, too, but the winery is not well known outside the realm of serious wine geeks.

We've tasted their Taurasi wines over the years and these are routinely good.  And they lend credibility to the phase claiming "Taurasi is the Barolo of the South."

We have their 2008 Vigne d'Alto, a seriously good, but rather young, Taurasi.  It comes from a small parcel of roughly 40 year old Aglianico vines.  I believe the skins are in contact with the juice/wine for an extended time period, well after the fermentation has completed.  After pressing, the wine is transferred to tonneaux, cooperage larger than a barrique but not a huge wood tank. 
After about 24 months in wood, the wine goes into glass for two additional years before being bottled...

The 2008 is a remarkable wine...dark in color and showing great concentration of black fruits.  There's a touch of an earthy tone, too, with plenty of structure providing good cellaring potential.  If you're opening this in the near future,  giving it some aeration time in a decanter is ideal.  Otherwise, stash this for drinking in 2020 to 2030.

Their "entry level" Taurasi is a very handsome wine.  
We currently have the 2013 and I'd say it's a more ready-to-drink presently than the older, single vineyard wine.

The wine is, of course, made entirely of Aglianico.  It's aged in "botti di rovere" for a year and a half and then goes in stainless steel for maybe a year.  And now it's had a good amount of time in bottle and it's developing beautifully.  
We like the mild red fruit notes...cherries, raspberry, sour cherry with a mildly earthy quality and a touch of brown spice.

It's medium-full to full-bodied on the palate and mildly tannic.

Pairing this with appropriate food will help is taste smoother...so pair this with a soulful pasta with a meat or meat & porcini mushroom sauce...or grilled lamb...

It's a terrific example of "serious" Aglianico and we'd suggest decanting your bottle maybe an hour or two before serving.

Currently in stock:  CONTRADE DE TAURASI 2008 TAURASI "Vigne d'Alto"  SALE $69.99  (last bottle or two)
CONTRADE DE TAURASI 2013 TAURASI "Red Label"  $49.99

Sandro Lonardo

MASCIARELLI

This fellow made some terrific wines in the region of Abruzzo.  His basic bottling of "Montepulciano d'Abruzzo" is routinely one of the best bargains known to those in search of a wine with "soul" that doesn't cost a fortune.

Gianni Masciarelli passed away during the summer of 2008, but his legacy lives on.  We will remember him fondly, as he was a real character and a dedicated winemaker.  His wife, Marina Cvetic, is another dynamic character and she's continuing the grand tradition established by her late husband.

 

 

The new bottling of Masciarelli is probably the best we've had, the wine having a particular character that says "Abruzzo."   When you taste this, you'll have trouble believing you paid such a modest sum for this wine.  

Masciarelli has worked diligently to cultivate good fruit.  He uses only his own grapes.  The basic, "little" wine comes from nine vineyard sites at various elevation levels.  They now have densely planted vineyards in an effort to maximize quality. 

He was such a stickler for quality, he actually went to France every year to scope out wood for barrels for his wines.  As I understand it, he went there to actually have a sniff of the various oaks that are available for purchase and then he has the barrels custom-built for his winery!

 

Gianni Masciarelli's wife,  Marina Cvetic, now runs the company and  her name adorns a very fine bottle of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo of "reserve" quality.

The full name of this wine will be a challenge for most: "Montepulciano d'Abruzzo San Martino Rosso Marina Cvetic."

(Good luck on remembering all of that!)

The wine is made entirely of Montepulciano.  It's fermented in wood and matured in oak. 

While we had been big fans of the various wines from this cellar, they changed distribution channels, leaving a good, independent local company for a national agent which then sells the wine to another distributor, adding another middleman and increasing the price.

   We were quoted a significantly higher price for the Masciarelli wines by the new distributor, a large liquor-centric company.
We know they do offer deep discounts to chain stores, even if these places do not sell a large volume of wine.  As a result, as there is not a level playing field, we wish them well in their work for the Masciarelli family.

We know the chain is not selling the wine for 99-cents over the price we have been offered.

A Page About Abruzzo (and Lunch With Masciarelli)

Currently in stock:  2012 MASCIARELLI MONTEPULCIANO D'ABRUZZO Sold Out...


2009 MARINA CVETIC MONTEPULCIANO D'ABRUZZO Sold Out
1998 VILLA GEMMA MONTEPULCIANO D'ABRUZZO Sold Out
2009 MARINA CVETIC TREBBIANO  Sold Out

 

 

 

CANTELE

The Cantele story begins with Giovanni Battista Cantele, a fellow born in Italy's Veneto region.  His wife, Teresa Manara, also is from Northern Italy.  he had been involved in the world of wine, apparently brokering the sale of the darker, more potent and deeply-colored wines of Puglia to wineries in the North who wanted to "fortify" their local wines.

On a trip to southern Italy, Puglia, they were both so enchanted with the region they ended up moving there and setting up a winery.  In those days, though, the Pugliese were moving out of Puglia, hoping to find their fortune in the more wealthy northern Italy.  Cantele, silly fellow, was leaving the prosperous north for the impoverished south.  

Their (then) 16 year old son Augusto didn't want to make the move to Puglia and he remained in the Veneto, studying wine and winemaking at the Centro di Ricerca per La Viticoltura in Conegliano.  Mom & Dad?  They're crazy!

But, it seems a few years later, Augusto changed his tune and joined the family in Lecce down in Puglia.  And in 1979 the two sons, Augusto and Domenico set up their own winery, initially merely buying wine on the bulk market and bottling it under their own name.

In the 1990s they got serious and started buying vineyard land and growing their own fruit.  And now a new generation is running the place, as Augusto's son Gianni is the winemaker.  They own about 50 hectares of their own vineyards and they buy from or manage another 150.

The winery now produces a bunch of wines, including Chardonnay, Merlot and Syrah.  More interesting to us is their "Salice Salentino," a wine made entirely of the indigenous Negroamaro grape.  The wine sees a bit of wood aging, though they use cooperage that has had one or two wines previously.  

The resulting wine is quite good and a satisfying, typical Pugliese rosso.  It's not as rustic as the Salice Salentino from, say Cosimo Taurino, which is truly "old fashioned."
They do about 10 days of skin contact and the wine, after its fermentation, goes into seasoned French oak barriques...you may find just a whisper of wood in the 2019.
It's a medium+ bodied red wine and nicely balanced, so you can drink it immediately.
This is not a bottle to set aside for five years, as it does not require aging.

The Cantele family makes a 21st Century version and you really get your money's worth for $15.99 a bottle.


The winery was robbed back in 2012, when a well-organized (we're told) bunch of thieves broke into the place and stole something like 20,000 bottles of 12 different wines.  Though they had video surveillance, they did not have a burglar alarm system.  And the Cantele family says they did not have insurance.  (I'm betting they have both an alarm system and insurance today!  If they don't, well, shame on them...)

 

Currently in stock:  CANTELE 2019 SALICE SALENTINO Riserva  SALE $15.99

 

 

 

ARGIOLAS

The Argiolas wines have been in our market for a number of years.  We've periodically had some of their wines as they seem to be a leading light in Sardegna.  

We applaud the Argiolas' family for maintaining the traditional grape varieties of their region, rather than jumping into the pool of Chardonnay and Cabernet.  So many Italian winemakers feel the need to make the same wines as the rest of the vintners on the planet, they often forget the heritage wines of their backyard.

Not Argiolas!


We're presently enthralled by a curious little white wine they offer called Nuragus di Cagliari.   The name "nuragus" comes from the nuraghi (stone towers) which dot the island.

Nuragus is a grape variety which is said to have been brought to Sardegna by the Phoenicians.  That must have been a while ago!

 

We've been fans of this little white wine for several vintages, yet it's only recently that we've actually had some in the shop to sell...

 

Guigal's $100 Condrieu was served alongside the Argiolas "Nuragus" wine at
our New Year's fest with seared Ahi tuna stuffed with crab meat & basil.
Both excellent wines, but most of us preferred the Argiolas wine.

 

The Argiolas family calls the Nuragus wine "S'elegas," apparently it's the name of the vineyard.   The wine doesn't see oak, yet there's an almost woodsy aspect to it which we find intriguing.  There are also fruity notes here...elements of ripe peach or melon come to the fore.  It's dry, of course.  We've typically paired this wine with seafood and it works very nicely with crab, prawns, scallops, clams, mussels, etc.  You could also match it with a mildly seasoned chicken dish if you like.  It's remarkably good and carries a modest-sized price tag (a combination we particularly appreciate)...

The Argiolas family also offers two stellar after-dinner beverages.  One is a Lemoncello-like liqueur called "Limonsardo."  It's actually a shade less sweet than most of the Italian lemon-flavored liqueurs.  Very nice, though. 
Also impressive is their Myrtle-berry infusion called "Mirto."  It's dark and deep, with an intense berry fruit aroma and flavor. 

Currently in stock:  ARGIOLAS 2007 Nuragus di Cagliari  Sold Out
ARGIOLAS  TREMONTIS "LIMONSARDO"  $34.99
ARGIOLAS  TREMONTIS  "MIRTO"  $34.99
We can special order other Argiolas wines for you.

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MASTROBERARDINO

The Mastroberardino name should probably be better know than it is, as the family is a bit of an icon in the wine business in Campania.
The family name is synonymous with Campania, in fact.

Though they can trace the roots of the family tree back hundreds of years (and in some aspect of wine), Mastroberardino lost a bit of traction in the early 1990s when the two brothers, Walter and Antonio, split the business.  Antonio kept the brand name and winery, while most of the vineyards were retained by Walter, who started another winery, Terredora di Paolo.

Back in the 1970s, I recall tasting an ancient vintage of Mastroberardino Taurasi and found the wine to be remarkably complex and something "special."  It had withstood the test of time, was deep in terms of its bouquet and had a profound flavor with, still, a bit of 'grip' from tannin.  I think the wine was from the 1961 vintage and it illustrated that there was something special about the Aglianico grape, wine from the Taurasi appellation and the Mastroberardino winery.

The family remains dedicated to grape varieties which are particular to Campania and they don't dabble in wines with Chardonnay, Cabernet, Merlot or Syrah.  They own approximately 190 hectares of vineyards.  The family has long promoted sustainable viticulture and are one of nine wineries in some sort of pilot program promoting sustainability.

Aglianico is their focus and they make a nice range of white wines, including Falanghina, Greco di Tufo and Fiano.  Recent vintages of these have been good and always "correct."  

The Taurasi denominazione is often referred to as "the Barolo of the south" and this, perhaps is true.  However, we think good examples of Taurasi are wonderful wines and so, perhaps, they ought to really stand on their own.  Perhaps one day people will refer to Barolo as the "Taurasi of the north."  
Eh...maybe not.

Aglianico is the grape and this variety can make rather noble, majestic red wines.  It can also produce good, simple, hearty red.  

Mastroberardino makes several Taurasi wines.  

Taurasi "Radici" (refers to "roots", of which an old family such as Mastroberardino has plenty!) comes from Aglianico vineyards which are just attaining a point of maturity.  Their best years are ahead of them, but they are making good, typical, "classic" Taurasi.  We have their 2009 "Radici" in stock, a wine which spent a year, or so, in a combination of French oak barrels and Slavonian oak 'casks.'  Wood, though, is not the dominant feature.  There's a woodsy element or brushy tone to the wine with hints of dark fruit and this vintage is fairly firm and nicely structured...certainly approachable now, but even better with an hour, or two, in the decanter.





We should also mention their Lacryma Christi wines..."Del Vesuvio".  The red is made entirely of Piedirosso grapes...Sort of a berryish, mildly spicy red...medium bodied...perfect for grilled sausages & polenta or some other hearty "peasant fare."  

The white wine is entirely Coda di Volpe, a dry, non-oaked white.  It's a simple dry white, grown in volcanic soils.  
It's a cocktail white and it pairs nicely with seafood and lighter fare.


We usually have some bottles of each of these in stock.

 

Currently in stock:  
1999 Naturalis Historia Irpinia Rosso Sold Out
LACRYMA CHRISTI DEL VESUVIO ROSSO  Sale $19.99 (last bottles)
LACRYMA CHRISTI DEL VESUVIO BIANCO Sale $19.99  (last bottles)
2014 "Radici" TAURASI  $49.99  (last bottles)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The family owns a fancy hotel/resort with a restaurant, spa and golf club about 10 minutes north of the town of Taurasi.  You'll need a couple of hours from Rome and and hour and a quarter from Naples to get there.

 

 

An old bottle displayed by Taurino to show off their history...

COSIMO TAURINO

Though the late Cosimo Taurino was regarded as an innovator and "modernist" when he started, to us his wines remain very much "old school" and a bit old-fashioned.

Taurino was a pharmacist who had a fascination with wine.  He established a winery, as we understand it, in 1970.  
But apparently there was always some sort of wine business, as Taurino sold wine in bulk.  Tankers would be sent, filled with wine, to wineries in northern Italy where wineries would clandestinely blend in the somewhat more potent and darker-colored wine from Puglia.

Parenthetically, an enologist told us about some winery in the Veneto using wine purchased from Puglia (not from Taurino) to blend into an Amarone.  But the old fellow in the Veneto miscalculated the slight fortification and added too much, making the wine taste more like a Southern Italian red than one made of grapes grown in the Valpolicella area.  Oops.
In fact, on a recent visit to the Veneto , one prominent winemaker told us of the 250-something wineries making Amarone, probably there are but half a dozen who actually abide by the law and bottle wine solely from vineyards in their area.  Using less costly wine from Puglia and other southern areas is too attractive for these wineries to resist the temptation.

 

The Taurino acquired a vineyard called Notare Panaro...it was a property owned by a notary whose family name was Panaro.
This estate was purchased in 1956.  They now have vineyards in two sites, one in the provincia of Brindisi and the other in Lecce.

One of the best values in "rustic," classic Italian wine is the Salice Salentino Riserva (the label is posted to the left).  This comes from their vineyards in Guagnano.

This is the main wine of the Taurino estate and it's about 90% Negroamaro with, typically, 10% Malvasia Nera.  If you're looking for a "fruit bomb" or a wine that's lavishly oaked, this is not for you.   It's very much "old school" Italian red, despite being in French oak for three months.  For those people who are in sync with the wine, it's remarkably good.  Soulful.  But, of course, not a universally-appealing red wine.  Pair it with a savory stew or braised meat.

 

 

Then there's the Notarpanaro red wine, a wine that's entirely Negroamaro.  The appellation is Negroamaro Salento "IGP" Rosso.  The vineyards are about 40 years of age, so you have very mature vines.  The skins are kept in contact with the juice for 7 to 10 days typically, though the fermentation usually goes for two weeks.  When the fermentation finishes, the wine goes into small French oak, but the barrels are 2nd, 3rd and 4th use, so the wood imparted into the wine is minimal.  It's aged for less than a year in barrel and then it's bottled and given a fair bit of bottle aging before they release it.

The foundation of the estate is the Negroamaro grape, though they do grow Semillon and Riesling, despite being situated in a relatively hot region. 
These grapes are both incorporated into a sweet dessert wine.


 They also have a bit of Chardonnay and Cabernet.  Taurino never was a fan of Primitivo, as we understand, but these days his heirs are making such a wine.

So for a winery steeped in tradition, it's interesting that they have a few "foreign" grape varieties and that they use French oak cooperage.  
And yet the wines, once tasted, would be described as "old school."


 

 

Currently in stock:  2011 SALICE SALENTINO SALE $18.99
2010 NOTARPANARO  $21.99

CAGGIANO

I'm guessing Antonio Caggiano is in his late 60s or early 70s.  (The San Francisco Chronicle, in a 2004 article by Janet Fletcher on obscure grapes and the wines they make describes Caggiano as a "young revolutionary who has built a modern cantina and overhauled outmoded vineyard practices."  I suppose Janet views Robert Parker, then, as a really young buck!

 

The "young" Antonio Caggiano, Mister Taurasi

Caggiano spent his life owning a construction company.  He has been a skilled photographer, too, visiting remote places in search of adventure and the perfect photo.  In 1990 he decided to take the plunge and get into the wine business.   He started selling grapes back in the early days and started making wine in 1994.   Today, with the help of winemaker Marco Moccia and his son "Pepe" (who handles much of the business side of the operation), Caggiano turns out about 150,000 bottles of wine annually.

The winery is actually located in the town of Taurasi, so Caggiano really does carry the flag for the appellation.  

The winery produces several versions of Aglianico wines.  Their Taurasi wine from the vineyard "Macchia dei Goti" is the heavy hitter.  This is matured in French oak barriques such as the ones in the photo directly above.

"Salae Domini" is labeled as Aglianico dell'Irpinia though this, too, comes from Taurasi vineyards.  It's matured in French oak, too.   

Spending less time in wood as it's vinified for immediate drinkability if their "Tauri" wine.  They changed  the name of this from Tari to Tauri.  This used to be an exuberantly berryish version of Aglianico and we liked it served at cool cellar temp with all sorts of Mediterranean fare.

The 2020 vintage is darned good.  This is a wine with a touch of tannin and you could, we suppose, cellar it for a few years with good results.
But we find the wine to be something fairly showy on the dinner table with red meats or cheeses.   There's an earthy note we find attractive and there's also an element we love in Piemontese Nebbiolo wines.  

Now you may know that Taurasi wines are often called "the Nebbiolo of the South."  
If you like the Nebbiolo Langhe wines we typically have in the shop, then this is likely to be a winner for you, too.
It's got a similar level of mouth-drying tannin, but it's fuller bodied than the Piemontese wines.
But it's also a great bottle for fans of California Zinfandels (the ones made for adult palates, not the mass-market, slightly sweet plonk intended for non-wine drinkers).

A few years ago we we pleasantly "shocked" (more than surprised, frankly) in tasting Caggiano's white wines.
They've become seriously more interesting.

The wine called Béchar (named after a place in the Sahara Desert where Antonio Caggiano had done some photography...he's brilliant with a camera!) is made of a grape called Fiano.  This variety can make a really delightful wine if handled well in the vineyard and with competence in the cellar.  The 2022 vintage from Caggiano is a very fine example.  There's a floral note to this wine...the fragrances are reminiscent of yellow fruit with that floral aspect lurking in the background.  No oak and it's dry...nice, lingering, stony, dry finish. It's ideal as a cocktail white, but pairs well with seafood, white meat dishes, etc.

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Caggiano also has a modest-sized agriturismo down the hill from the winery.  It looks like a nice place.

The Caggiano wines age much better than has this garlic near the barbecue area at Caggiano's agriturismo.

The new Tauri bottle...the old Tari bottle.

Currently in stock:  2020 CAGGIANO "Tauri" Aglianico dell'Irpinia  SALE $21.99
2008 CAGGIANO TAURASI  (list $80)  Sold Out
2022 CAGGIANO Fiano di Avellino $27.99

 

 

 

 

LIBRANDI

Calabria hasn't been particularly well-known in the international market, though the Librandis are working on changing that.  

I had thought to go visit Calabria a few years ago and the price of an airline ticket there from, say, Frankfurt, was ridiculously high, so I passed.
In calculating the driving time to the Librandi's home town of Cirò Marina, I saw I would need about 6 hours in the car from a location in Campania.  This brought home the reality of the American expression:  "You cain't git there from here."

Is Calabria that far off the beaten path that there is no path?  

Cirò and Cirò Marina (the part of the town that's right on the water) are on the east coast of Calabria.  Cirò Marina is a lovely seaside village with a row of fish stores featuring the day's latest catch.  While you might think white wine would be a hot ticket here, it's actually an area more noted for red wines.

Stirring the sediment in barrel.


Old samples in the cellar.


Old bottles of Cirò.

Calabrese "Chianti".


Old bottles dating back to 1970 (on the right).

Tasting Cirò with Donato Abenante.

Tasting Ciro with Donato in 2019.

The Librandi family has been bottling wine since the 1950s and, until perhaps the past decade, were one of a dozen producers of Cirò wines.  In my view, they're currently the leading winery in the appellation, producing good quality, reliable wines.

The firm owns more than 230 hectares of vineyards and another hundred in olive groves.   There's a small "army" of about a hundred people who work in the vineyards and a crew of 30 in the cellar.  It takes a lot of manpower to make 2,500,000 bottles of wine!

We've been fans of Librandi's basic red wine, Cirò, for some years.  It's made entirely of the Gaglioppo grape, which you may know under its Campanian or Basilicata banner as "Aglianico."  Years ago, Cirò used to be blended with small amounts of white grapes, much along the lines of Sangiovese in Chianti.  Today Librandi's wine is solely Gaglioppo and it's a wine which has a nice level of wood: none.
Yes, in a world of wine where oak is highly regarded, Librandi makes its normal bottling of Cirò without wood.  This is a nice easy-going red which pairs well with all sorts of simple Italian fare.  It's not intended for aging, so drinking it within two to five years of the vintage date is probably about right.

They make a Riserva version which is called Duca San Felice.  It's made from vineyards producing a slightly lower crop level and has a shade more 'structure.'  

Gaglioppo meets the New World in a wine called Gravello.  It comes from vineyards south of Cirò in the Val di Neto and it's blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and matured in French oak.  The wine is quite good and routinely gains notoriety from various wine journals.  

I agitated the hell out of Paolo Librandi by telling he and his importer's representative I had no interest in tasting the latest vintage.  ((I taste this wine once or twice a year and find it to be quite good.))  I told Signor Librandi, "You know, I've never had a customer request a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon that's been blended with Gaglioppo."  

Well, we haven't.  
Besides, Gaglioppo is particular to Calabria--Cabernet is grown all over the planet.  Do they need to grow it in Calabria, too?  Do Bordeaux vintners ever think to blend their wines with Gaglioppo, I wonder?  

Another grape we've enjoyed from Calabria is Magliocco.  This variety had been thought to be Gaglioppo, but recent studies indicate it is not the same and it's a completely different variety entirely.    The Librandi family says this variety is ancient, dating back to Roman and Greek times.  They've been dabbling with Magliocco for a number of years and in this past decade have been making some remarkably good wine of this grape.

The wine takes the name "Magno Megonio," a Roman army leader who left his footprint in the Val di Neto area south of Cirò.  Early vintages of this were quite promising...but I've not tasted a new one...

We can special order the Gravello and Duca San Felice wines for you...Maybe some of their other offerings, too.  Please inquire.

Currently in stock: Librandi Cirò Rosso $12.99

MY CALABRIAN DINNER IN CIRÒ MARINA WITH THE LIBRANDI'S

 

I LAURI

A youngish couple run this small enterprise, having a little place in Italy's Abruzzo region.  Antonella Di Tonno and Rodrigo Redmont launched their wine adventure around the turn of this century in a region which is said to have a forest full of laurel trees, hence the name of this brand, I Lauri.

They have three vineyard sites, Talamonti, I Lauri and Colle Corviano.  And they orchestrate the production and sales for wines under those three banners.

Her family has been in Abruzzo where he father worked in the brick industry.  Today they manufacture brick-making machines and she's affiliated with that organization.  Rodrigo parlayed his command of English from his schooling in Rome into enrollment in the prestigious business school, Babson College.  He worked for a number of years as an export manager for the American-owned wine company of Castello Banfi.  He then worked for another wine factory, Fazi Battaglia.
That led him to a his own wine marketing company before joining Antonella in the world of bricks.

A fascination with wine led the couple to more than dipping a toe into grape-growing and winemaking.

Italy's Abruzzo region is full of wine and we see numerous legitimate winery bottlings and even more brands which are created to increase marketing channels.

The region produces well more than 20 million cases of wine annually according to recent statistics.  It's reported that two-thirds of the region's wine is made by large co-op wineries and there's a big business in selling bulk wine.

 

Rodrigo Redmont visiting us in 2021.

 

The I Lauri wines are made in Loreto Aprutino, a hotbed of viticultural activity.  It's the home of the legendary Valentini winery, Torre dei Beati and the up & coming Ciavolich winery.

 

We were pleasantly surprised to taste a number of good wines from this company and selected their "Bajo" bottling of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo for the shop.  It's not a fancy wine, but we found it to be unusually elegant as though it had been vinified by an artisan winemaker from Tuscany's Chianti Classico region.  

The name Bajo, by the way, has a double meaning.  It's a reference to "bay," as in the Bay Laurel trees one finds in the area.  But it's also a reference to a little road in the center of town, the Via del Baio.  And this, we're told is the color "bay" which is an adjective used to describe reddish-brown horses.

The vineyards are sustainably farmed we're told and they have all sorts of environmentally-conscious certifications for vineyards and the cellars.  

We have the 2020 Bajo Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, a medium+ bodied wine with mild red fruit aromas and a bare suggestion of wood.  The wine is fermented in stainless steel with about a 10 day maceration period.  It then goes into large French oak cooperage for half a year.   The wine is nicely balanced and quite drinkable in its youth.  It's not intended for aging, so you can enjoy this tonight with a pizza, tomato-sauced pasta, sausages or grilled meats.    

And it's honestly-priced!

 

Currently in stock:  I LAURI 2020 MONTEPULCIANO D'ABRUZZO   SALE $13.99

 

GRIFALCO

The story of this little Basilicata producer begins in Tuscany, where Fabrizio Piccin was making Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, as he had been doing for a number of years.

But curious about other grape varieties, he and his wife Cecilia were fans of other "important" Italian grapes, so they enjoyed Nebbiolo from Piemonte and the Aglianico grape from Basilicata and Campania.  In fact, he liked Aglianico so much, he was making periodic trips to taste and explore the world of Basilicata and Campanian wines.  In the late 1990s he was buying grapes from growers and dabbling in making Aglianico wine and soon he was bitten by the bug.  

By 2004 they sold their Tuscan vineyards and winery, bidding a fond "Ciao!" to Toscana and they bought some vineyards in Basilicata where they designed and constructed a wine cellar.

Today the couple owns about 18 hectares of Aglianico in Basilicata split amongst four sites.  Maschito has 30 to 40+ year old vines, while Rapolla, Venosa (young vines) and Ginestra (30 year old vines) account for their fruit sources.  They employ open top fermentation tanks, use indigenous yeasts and various sized cooperage.

We've liked all their red wines, but had  featured the "Gricos" bottling, a youthful and charming Aglianico that's intended for immediate consumption.  The wine is lightly tannic, but tastes much smoother when paired with food.  It's a bit reminiscent of Zinfandel wines from California which we enjoyed in the 1970s...not too high in alcohol, berryish and with hints of pepper spice notes.

The most recent vintages we have tasted were a bit less bright and seemed to have some unusual fragrances, so for now we're "on hold" with this Aglianico.

Currently in stock:  2012 GRIFALCO "Gricos"  AGLIANICO Sold Out

 

LA SIBILLA

Imagine living in an area of an active volcano and cultivating grapevines in such an environment!  That's the story of a special region north of Napoli in a zone known as "Campi Flegrei."

Scientists believe there were eruptions in this area 35,000 years ago.  Then maybe 12,000 years ago there was another incident.  Much more recently, in the early 1500s, people noticed the ground was shaking and then in 1538, around what we'd expect to be harvest time, there was a major bit of volcanic activity and a new 'hill' was created.  It's called Monte Nuovo.  

But there's been rumblings in the late 1960s and then again in something like 1982 through 1984.    German drilling experts noted they are monitoring the area and have sensed some sort of activity in the early part of 2013.

I'm not sure we can accurately describe the wines from the Campi Flegrei as earth-shaking, but the wines from this area have a measure of distinction and they certain provide pleasure for those of us on the other side of the planet, far away from the seismic/volcanic activity.

Luigi de Meo cultivates the white grape called Falanghina, a variety found in other parts of Campania.  However, these vines are not grafted onto rootstock, they're grown on their own roots.  We understand there are some genetic differenced between the Falanghina of the Campi Flegrei and other areas.  Di Meo typically harvests the first part of October, so the Falanghina gets a lot of 'hang time.'  This may account for its beautiful character.

We enjoyed a bottle recently after tasting dozens of California wines.  What a welcome relief this was!  It's a bone dry white wine with some stony notes on the nose and maybe you can sense a whiff of the sea air.  It's not given any time in wood and this allows the character of the grape and vineyard to shine brightly.  

Pairing this Falanghina with seafood is an ideal match.  We enjoyed a bottle with mussels and some grilled octopus.  The octopus was served on a bed of beans which had a note of Meyer lemon...what a glorious marriage that was!

Currently in stock:  2021 LA SIBILLA Camp Flegrei FALANGHINA $19.99

Grilled Octopus on a bed of Beans with Calabrian Chili, Meyer Lemon, Bottarga and a Fresh Tomato Sauce...beautiful paired with la Sibilla's Falanghina!

FEUDI di SAN GREGORIO

Located in Campania, you'll find Feudi di San Gregorio in a sub-region known as Irpinia.  This is a special micro-climate, not as hot as you'd expect for central and southern Italia.   The place is named after Pope Gregory the Great.  It was founded in 1986 by the Capaldo and Ercolino families and Riccardo Cotarella is their consulting enologist.   The property comprises some 105 hectares.

Their white wines are of a very modern, fresh style.  I suspect the particular kind of yeast they're using may over-ride the actual varietal character if the grapes.  I can't really distinguish between the aromas of their Fiano, Falanghina or Greco di Tufo wines.  They all have similar fragrances and they all smell like tropical fruit, with the aroma of bubble gum.  

I've tasted a range of wines from Feudi from time to time.  The whites, as mentioned, seem ultramodern and perhaps a touch sweet.  The reds are nice, though certainly veering towards appealing to New World wine drinkers.

 

 

 

The winery has received the most attention for its "Serpico" wine.  This is an Aglianico wine which they say comes from fruit grown within the Taurasi region.  It's an "IGT" designated wine, though.  You'll taste the Aglianico, certainly, but it's also made in a modern, oak-aged style.

 

We have access to many of their wines, so we can special order their other bottlings for you.  

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Currently in stock: 
2003 "Serpico" $69.99 (sale priced)

 

 

 

FAZI BATTAGLIA

This firm was founded in 1949 and in the 1950s organized a competition for designers to create a wine bottle for their Verdicchio.

An architect from Milano named Maiocchi won the competition, creating a bottle in the fashion of an old amphora.  This is Fazi-Bazzi's trademark today, some 50 years later!  

Their Verdicchio is a decently made, if somewhat anonymous tasting white wine.  It has a touch of fruit when young and is dry and light...the bottle has more character than does the wine, though.

 

Currently in stock: We can special order this for you...

 

DE CONCILIIS

Located south of Naples and Salerno is this producer in Campania.  The De Conciliis family has about 25 hectares of vineyards, producing a wine of the Aglianico grape which attracted our attention.

This variety has nobility written all over it.  Some people say the grape was introduced to Italy by the Greeks and was known as Vitis Hellenica and later as Ellenico before corrupting to Aglianico.  

 

 

 

 

The De Conciliis family makes about 40,000 bottles of a wonderfully berryish and mildly spicy (think white pepper) Aglianico called "Donnaluna."  
 Good wine!  It's a delightful example of Aglianico, as has become the 'norm' over the past five or six years.  It's versatile, pairing with pizza, pastas, sausages, etc.  Good!

Naima is Bruno's top Aglianico.  We had it in a blind-tasting of Aglianico wines from Campania and Basilicata a few years ago and the wine ran away with the tasting...even alongside entries from Mastroberardino and Feudi di San Gregorio. 
Click here to check out the notes on that tasting...

The wine was extraordinary.  Deep and dark, with wonderful wood scents.  Complete on the palate and it demonstrates Aglianico can be a wine of top quality.
More recent vintages have been "over the top" in our view...too ripe, too powerful...too much.  And out of balance.

 

We understand Bruno De Conciliis still has a stake in the winery, but today there's a new winemaker and a consulting winemaker, so we look forward to trying their wines.

More recently we picked up the Naima "super cuvée" called Willburger.
It carries the appellation of Paestum Aglianico (IGT) and it comes from several vineyard sites, all with low-yielding vineyards.
It was handled a bit along the lines of a good Barolo or Barbaresco with a long maceration time.
Then it went into a couple of types of cooperage and spent a lengthy aging period there.

We have a 2005 vintage presently...quite soulful and certainly akin to good Langhe reds.
It is moderately tannic and best paired with foods which can handle the astringency...beef, lamb...cheeses...
You'd do well to decant this and let it breathe for a few hours.
This is certainly the work of Bruno De Conciliis.

 

Currently in stock:  
2005 "NAIMA WILLBURGER"  $69.99

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