Winemaker Notes
Structured and powerful wine, ruby-red colored with deep-purple nuances. It has a complex balsamic aroma with scent of soft fruits, plums, blackberries and cherries. Elegant and with a long textural finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is a very successful aglianico from Basilicata replete with dark but fresh berries; the aromas of blackberries, elderberries, tar and dried violets are all pretty and enticing. The full-bodied palate is very kempt with tidy rows of meaty tannins and impressive acidity drive.
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Vinous
Notes of camphor and crushed stone give way to bright cherries, blackberries, incense and hints of green curry as the 2013 Aglianico del Vulture Superiore unfolds in the glass. This is silky-smooth and pliant upon entry, with a polished display of black fruits and mentholated herbs, but beneath it all, a mix of saline minerals and fine tannin slowly drenches the palate, creating youthful poise. While still quite structured, the 2013 remains giving and pleasurable today, yet with many more years of development in store for patient collectors. The quality of the vintage and Basilisco’s style of varietal purity truly shine through here. Best After 2023.
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Wine Spectator
A finely-knit and harmonious red, offering and an herb-laced aromatic overtone, with notes of steeped raspberry and dried cherry, anise, tangerine peel and smoke set on a fresh, medium- to full-bodied frame. Drink now through 2028. 1,000 cases made, 25 cases imported.
Making its home in the mountainous southern Italy, Aglianico is a bold red variety that is late to ripen and often spends until November on the vine. It thrives in Campania as the exclusive variety in the age-worthy red wine called Taurasi. Aglianico also has great success in the volcanic soils of Basilicata where it makes the robust, Aglianico del Vulture. Somm Secret—The name “Aglianico” bears striking resemblance to Ellenico, the Italian word for "Greek," but no evidence shows it has Greek ancestry. However, it first appeared in Italy around an ancient Greek colony located in present-day Avellino, Campania.
Inhabiting the arch of Italy’s boot, this southern, mountainous region has a relatively small amount of vineyard area under vine. Basilicata has one DOCG for its prized red grape, Aglianico, Aglianico del Vulture Superior, which is limited to the slopes of an extinct volcano. The best whites are made of Malvasia bianca.