Aglianico. Help me! (Fontanavecchia)

Z

Zachary Ross

Zachary Ross
So for no reason I bought this today and just opened it now:

2000 Fontanavecchia Aglianico Taburno Riserva Vigna Cataratte

I have zero experience with Aglianico. This wine is dark, red with brown tones, and has a big stanky nose that is musky and alluring, with some spice and soy sauce, maybe some amaretto. It's big and ripe and sweet even, with a thin wash of drying tannins but not a lot of grip otherwise. Yummyish. Drink and hold.

Is this what people look for in Aglianico?
 
Basically. It could be a bit less sweet and a bit more grippy. It is sometimes compare to barolo because it, too, can offer 'paved road' flavors.
 
I have not had a lot of experience with Aglianico, but one that I have had several times is the Terradora di Paolo. I drank the 2006 again last night. Dark and goopy looking in the glass, the nose showed some pruny flavors with hints of tea and chocolate. A slight smoked essence as well. Fairly full bodied with lush chocolate and bacon flavors. Fairly plummy fruit. Ideal with one of my favorite prepared meals of recent: slow braised pork shoulder with papardelle. This bottle did seem slightly off to me, but not offensively so. The flavors were more muted than I remember. Possibly a little bit of cork taint.

I have never really likened Aglianico to Barolo. If anything, I would compare it to Brunello first, but much more affordable.
 
originally posted by Zachary Ross:
Aglianico. Help me! (Fontanavecchia)So for no reason I bought this today and just opened it now:

2000 Fontanavecchia Aglianico Taburno Riserva Vigna Cataratte

I have zero experience with Aglianico. This wine is dark, red with brown tones, and has a big stanky nose that is musky and alluring, with some spice and soy sauce, maybe some amaretto. It's big and ripe and sweet even, with a thin wash of drying tannins but not a lot of grip otherwise. Yummyish. Drink and hold.

Is this what people look for in Aglianico?
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What I would like to see: some ash, tufa, fresh tobacco leaf, minerally streak,
multi-dimensional aromas, dark fruit, and fierce tanninc structure. Good aglianicos should make you feel you are standing atop a volcanic lunar landscape, or overlooking an active volcanic cone. The official wine of The Ring of Fire, yeah!
 
What I would like to see: some ash, tufa, fresh tobacco leaf, minerally streak,
multi-dimensional aromas, dark fruit, and fierce tanninc structure. Good aglianicos should make you feel you are standing atop a volcanic lunar landscape, or overlooking an active volcanic cone. The official wine of The Ring of Fire, yeah!
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Down to a t. Brilliant.
 
Finding real versions is hard. There seems to be a trend towards modernist monstrosity in the area, and the good, traditional versions (a) don't seem to show up in our market, and (b) when they do, they tend to cost a lot. I have liked some Mustilli. It's more delicate and floral than the Fontanavecchia, which I also like.
 
Young Aglianico del Taburno tastes like Northern Rhone Syrah in a way that is not the same; old Aglianico (25 or so years on it) tastes like supercharged Volnay. Older than that Aglianico usually tastes like vinegar.

Or so my experience goes.
 
originally posted by Cliff:
Finding real versions is hard. There seems to be a trend towards modernist monstrosity in the area, and the good, traditional versions (a) don't seem to show up in our market, and (b) when they do, they tend to cost a lot. I have liked some Mustilli. It's more delicate and floral than the Fontanavecchia, which I also like.
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Have you had D'Angelo's Vigna Caselle, Cliff? Not sure what it sells for over in the US, but here it's eminently affordable and my gold standard for traditional Aglianico del Vulture.
 
originally posted by Tvrtko Cernos:
originally posted by Cliff:
Finding real versions is hard. There seems to be a trend towards modernist monstrosity in the area, and the good, traditional versions (a) don't seem to show up in our market, and (b) when they do, they tend to cost a lot. I have liked some Mustilli. It's more delicate and floral than the Fontanavecchia, which I also like.
Click to expand...

Have you had D'Angelo's Vigna Caselle, Cliff? Not sure what it sells for over in the US, but here it's eminently affordable and my gold standard for traditional Aglianico del Vulture.
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Hi Tvrtko,

I've been looking since you recommended it. But not much makes it here, and that was right around the 2003 vintage, which gave me pause, on principle. So I'm sad to say that I haven't had a chance yet.
 
originally posted by Cole Kendall:
originally posted by Cliff:
Fantastic, thanks. I missed that one. Anything good in Italian?
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Try here with the caveat that half of the thread participants are completely mad and everything they say should be discounted.
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Thanks for this.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
Young Aglianico del Taburno tastes like Northern Rhone Syrah in a way that is not the same; old Aglianico (25 or so years on it) tastes like supercharged Volnay. Older than that Aglianico usually tastes like vinegar.

Or so my experience goes.
Click to expand...

Sorry to rain on your stats, but a nearly 39-yr old Mastroberadino Taurasi (the 1968 riserva) tasted 2 years ago was nowhere in decline.
 
originally posted by MarkS:
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
Young Aglianico del Taburno tastes like Northern Rhone Syrah in a way that is not the same; old Aglianico (25 or so years on it) tastes like supercharged Volnay. Older than that Aglianico usually tastes like vinegar.

Or so my experience goes.
Click to expand...

Sorry to rain on your stats, but a nearly 39-yr old Mastroberadino Taurasi (the 1968 riserva) tasted 2 years ago was nowhere in decline.
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Actually, I said "usually" because I am well aware of the '68 Mastro. But I think that if you check in with '70, '71, or '74 Mastro Taurasi, as I have recently, you would see evidence of decline. On the other hand, the '83 and '85 are drinking beautifully, and the '88 Radici is just hitting it's stride.

There isn't much else to go on for aged Aglianico, in terms of other producers to try.

Thus what I said.
 
Actually, I said "usually" because I am well aware of the '68 Mastro. But I think that if you check in with '70, '71, or '74 Mastro Taurasi, as I have recently, you would see evidence of decline. On the other hand, the '83 and '85 are drinking beautifully, and the '88 Radici is just hitting it's stride.
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Do you have any opinion as to the ageability of the 2004 Radici? I bought a bottle but haven't tasted it yet but from reports it sounds like it'll be a 20-year wine.

There isn't much else to go on for aged Aglianico, in terms of other producers to try.
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...sigh...
 
(Psst, dude: this is the interweb, make something up.)
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Right. OK, um...Chris Coad has a wealth of information on aglianico, though it's tough to get him to translate his finer work.
 
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