Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2000 Terra di Lavoro is one of the most open, showy wines in this tasting. This is a sexy, voluptuous Terra di Lavoro bursting with dark red fruit, flowers and minerals. The 2000 is quite pleasurable today for its sheer opulence, but readers will have to wait another five years or so for the aromas and flavors to move into a more tertiary stage. As delicious as the 2000 is, it remains a relatively simple Terra di Lavoro when tasted alongside the most profound vintages. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2030.
Terra di Lavoro, first produced in 1994, has quickly established itself as one of Italy’s cult wines. I tasted all of these vintages with proprietors Arturo and Dora Celentano during their first visit to the US. The Celentanos have a huge passion for food and wine, and that exuberance comes through loud and clear in these fabulous wines. Terra di Lavoro is 80% Aglianico and 20% Piedirosso from vines planted by consulting oenologist Riccardo Cotarella beginning in 1991. The fruit is harvested according to ripeness rather than strictly by variety, which means that Aglianico and Piedirosso are sometimes picked and vinified together. After the alcoholic fermentation, the wines are racked into French oak where they remain on their lees for several months. Cotarella describes Aglianico as a hard grape to take through malolactic fermentation. He therefore believes it is essential for the final blend to be made before the wines go into malo. The final blend is assembled and undergoes what is usually a very slow malo, in steel for 80-90% of the wine, prior to being moved back into oak. There is little question that malolactic fermentation in stainless steel contributes significant freshness and aging potential to this heroic southern Italian wine.
The family-owned estate that is Galardi is unlike any other. Established in 1991, they produce just one wine, with near perfection, and are located in an ideal location with volcanic, sloping soils in the northwestern part of the Campania region of Italy. The influence of the Mediterranean Ocean’s breezes combined with the unique soil composition make the native grape varieties of Aglianico and Piedirosso a nearly instinctual process. Although the soils create unique flavors in the wine, they make for extremely low yields and only a couple thousand bottles of Galardi’s flagship, Terra di Lavoro, are bottled annually making the quality and price skyrocket.
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.