Winemaker Notes
100% Aglianico
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
Bocca di Lupo is a top-shelf red that offers enormous beauty and intensity in the form of ripe fruit, chocolate fudge, leather, tobacco and blackberry pie. The tannins are tight and firm, and the long finish is characterized by black cherry and toasted espresso bean.
-
Wine Spectator
Stylish and harmonious, this layers dark, briary berry and cherry fruit, with hints of black olive, melted licorice, graphite, tarry smoke and grilled beef. Supple tannins lend this the grip and structure for time in the cellar. Drink now through 2028.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2008 Aglianico Castel del Monte Bocca di Lupo is a serious red imbued with dark cherries, tobacco, earthiness, licorice and smoke, all of which flesh out beautifully on a mid-weight frame. Slightly rough contours typical of young Aglianico remain. This shows tons of varietal character all the way through to the powerful, intense yet harmonious finish. Another year or two in bottle will help the tannins soften a touch. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2018.
A wonderful joining of classic winemaking and modern viticultural techniques, these exceptional wines are crafted from 100% estate grown fruit, a rarity among Puglian wines. Tormaresca is the only producer with vineyards in both of Puglia’s two elite winegrowing sub-regions: Salento and Castel del Monte DOC.
The Tormaresca estate is composed of two properties. Bocca di Lupo is located in the Castel del Monte DOC of northern Puglia. It offers an ideal growing environment for Chardonnay, Aglianico and Cabernet Sauvignon. Masseria Maime is located on the Salento peninsula in Southern Puglia. Its vineyards extend over half a mile along the Adriatic coast and are planted with Negroamaro, Primitivo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.
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.
Well-suited to the production of concentrated, fruity and spicy red varieties, Puglia is one of Italy’s warmest, most southerly regions. Its entire eastern side is one long coastline bordering the Adriatic Sea. About half way down, the region becomes the Salento Peninsula. This peninsula, bordered by water on three sides, receives moist, nighttime, sea breezes that bring a welcome cooling effect to the region, where little rain creates a challenging environment for its vines. In fact, the region is named for the Italian expression, “a pluvia,” meaning “lack of rain.”
Puglia’s Mediterranean climate and iron-rich, calcareous soils support the indigenous Primitivo, Negroamaro and Nero di Troia. Primitivo produces an inky, spicy, brambly and ripe red wine whose best expression comes from Manduria. Nero di Troia produces tannic, rustic reds from Castel del Monte DOC while Negroamaro, typically blended with Malvasia nera, plays a large part in may blends made throughout the peninsula.
Puglia produces a small amount of white wines as well, predominantly made of the fruity, Trebbiano Toscano, or light, Bombino bianco grapes.