Winemaker Notes
Pair this wine with roasted game, spicy tomato-based sauces, southern Italian pasta dishes, and slow-cooked beef stews.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
You get terrific value with this red wine from Southern Italy. The fruit in this warm vintage comes together with precision and balanced intensity. The 2015 Aglianico del Vulture Gudarrà is a generous and opulent expression with a thick layer of black fruit. In addition, you get delicate and territorial notes of campfire ash and exotic spice. This is a contemporary expression from a deeply traditional wine region. On the finish, you get touches of black olive and grilled herb.
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James Suckling
Very attractive aromas of blue fruit, tar and spices. Some dried meat. Full body and a soft and rich palate. Flavorful finish.
Italian Red Wine
While picturesque hillsides, endless coastlines and a favorable climate serve to unify the grape-growing culture of this country. The apparent never-ending world of indigenous grape varieties gives Italy an unexampled charm and allure for its red wines. From the steep inclines of the Alps to the sprawling, warm, coastal plains of the south, red grape varieties thrive throughout.
The kings of Italy, wines like Barolo and Barbaresco (made of Nebbiolo), and Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino (made of Sangiovese), as well as Amarone (mostly Corvina), play center stage for the most lauded, collected and cellar-worthy reds. Less popular but entirely deserving of as much praise are the wines made from Aglianico, Sagrantino and Nerello Mascalese.
For those accustomed to drinking New World reds, the south is the place to start. Grapes like Negroamaro or Primitvo from Puglia and Nero d’Avola from Sicily make soft, ammicable, full-bodied, fruit-dominant wines. Curious palates should be on the lookout for Cannonau (Grenache), Lagrein, Teroldego, Ruché, Freisa, Cesanese, Schiopettino, Rossese and Gaglioppo to name a few.