Winemaker Notes
The most noble grape from southern Italy, it stands up to the bold and spicy flavors of this region, including pizza. Thick-skinned and intense, its brooding dark fruit is softened by long and cool fermentation. As the intensity subsides, floral and nuanced spice aromas emerge. Aglianco, while delicious young, will also benefit from some time in the cellar.
Blend: 100% Aglianico
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Aglianico is among the more bracing and mineral-driven wines in the portfolio, opening with a vibrant, high-toned bouquet of red fruits, citrus rinds, fresh herbs and dried flowers. The palate is lifted, firm and tensile, transitioning into a persistent, resonant finish framed with fine-grained, grippy tannins and streaks of mineral-laced acidity. This will benefit from another year or so in bottle to soften its edges, and should drink beautifully into its second decade.
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.
Paso Robles has made a name for itself as a source of supple, powerful, fruit-driven Central Coast wines. But with eleven smaller sub-AVAs, there is actually quite a bit of diversity to be found in this inland portion of California’s Central Coast.
Just east over the Santa Lucia Mountains from the chilly Pacific Ocean, lie the coolest in the region: Adelaida, Templeton Gap and (Paso Robles) Willow Creek Districts, as well as York Mountain AVA and Santa Margarita Ranch. These all experience more ocean fog, wind and precipitation compared to the rest of the Paso sub-appellations. The San Miguel, (Paso Robles) Estrella, (Paso Robles) Geneso, (Paso Robles) Highlands, El Pomar and Creston Districts, along with San Juan Creek, are the hotter, more western appellations of the greater Paso Robles AVA.
This is mostly red wine country, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel standing out as the star performers. Other popular varieties include Merlot, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Grenache and Rhône blends, both red and white. There is a fairly uniform tendency here towards wines that are unapologetically bold and opulently fruit-driven, albeit with a surprising amount of acidity thanks to the region’s chilly nighttime temperatures.