Winemaker Notes
A fresh and dynamic wine. Rich, spicy, fruity and elegant. Black cherry and licorice aromas, well balanced acidity, subtle accents of dried herbs, blackberries.
This wine makes an excellent pairing with salami, sausages with broccoli, lamb, grilled tenderloin, as well as pasta with beans.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A lighter expression of aglianico, handled with aplomb. Sapid red cherry, lilac, a waft of tobacco, licorice root and a curb of freshness. Among the better approaches to crafting this wiry variety into an earlier drinking expression, sans any sacrifice of integrity. Prosaic in the most delicious sense.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Core means "heart" in the Italian dialect, and a heart-shaped drawing is prominent on the front label. The Montevetrano 2020 Core Rosso has some hot-vintage astringency but not much, with fine chalky tannins. Made with 100% Aglianico, the wine is fruit-forward to be sure, with inky black cherry and ripe plum. There is pretty spice on the close.
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Wine Spectator
Round and creamy, this medium-bodied red has zesty cracked peppercorn, smoke and ground coffee notes underscoring mulberry, cassis and chopped rosemary flavors. Lively, chewy finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Aglianico and Merlot. Drink now. 1,000 cases made, 200 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.
A winemaking renaissance is underfoot in Campania as more and more small, artisan and family-run wineries redefine their style with vineyard improvements and cellar upgrades. The region boasts a cool Mediterranean climate with extreme coastal, as well as high elevation mountain terroirs. It is cooler than one might expect in Campania; the region usually sees some of the last harvest dates in Italy.
Just south of Mount Vesuvio, the volcanic and sandy soils create aromatic and fresh reds based on Piedirosso and whites, made from Coda di Volpe and Falanghina. Both reds and whites go by the name, Lacryma Christi, meaning the "tears of Christ." South of Mount Vesuvio, along the Amalfi Coast, the white varieties of Falanghina and Biancolella make fresh, flirty, mineral-driven whites, and the red Piedirosso and Sciasinoso vines, which cling to steeply terraced coastlines, make snappy and ripe red wines.
Farther inland, as hills become mountains, the limestone soil of Irpinia supports the whites Fiano di Avellino, Falanghina and Greco di Tufo as well as the most-respected red of the south, Aglianico. Here the best and most age-worthy examples come from Taurasi.
Farther north and inland near the city of Benevento, the Taburno region also produces Aglianico of note—called Aglianico del Taburno—on alluvial soils. While not boasting the same heft as Taurasi, these are also reliable components of any cellar.