Winemaker Notes
Intense ruby color with strong garnet reflections. Ample and complex perfume, with beautiful fruit, minerality, and spicy hints. The aroma provokes a strong sensation of cherry, currant, rosemary, tobacco, and cinnamon. On the palate, it offers warm flavor, broad structure, and a persistent, aromatic finish.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
A refined, elegant expression of Aglianico. Lifted floral aromas of rose and violet are accompanied by fresh cherry scents. The palate is vibrant and energetic; youthful bramble fruit dominates. Still very young, with plenty of grip and notable minerality, this has many years ahead of it. Aged for 12 months in first- and second-use barriques with various levels of toasting.
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Vinous
The 2022 Aglianico del Vulture Titolo tempts the imagination as a whiff of ash and white smoke blows off to reveal musky black currants, shaved cedar and tangerine zest. This is texturally thrilling, nearly creamy in feel yet energetic. Cooling acidity and a core of ripe black fruits give way to tactile mineral tones. This finishes dramatically long and fresh, with a staining of fine-grained tannins. Licorice and exotic spice percolate through the close. Frankly, I'm amazed that even with the creation of the Superiore, Amphora and Riserva, Elena Fucci's Titolo remains one of the top wines in the region year after year. This is fantastic juice.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The organic Elena Fucci 2022 Aglianico del Vulture Titolo (or the so-called "classico" version of her flagship wine) represents a powerful vintage in which fruit ripeness and concentration are on full display. These results are balanced overall yet lean into the bolder side of Vulture winemaking. The wine offers good freshness thanks to high-elevation fruit, but the 2022 vintage is more accessible even upon release. The Titolo vineyard is located at 650 meters in elevation. The wine ferments in stainless steel and ages in barrique for 12 months, followed by 12 months in glass.
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James Suckling
Ripe and a bit volatile on the nose, with dried fruit and a savory, earthy touch. Juicy and firm, with bright acidity and a traditional, slightly old-school sensibility marked by an aged, bark-like note with nicely chewy tannins. Still, this has vibrancy from the acid. A bit more fruit freshness would take it to the next level. From organically grown grapes.
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.