While the heavyweights of Tuscany and Piedmont continue to dominate the spotlight, the volcanic hills of Taurasi quietly produce wines with the pedigree to rival Italy’s finest. This jewel of a DOCG is the epicenter of Aglianico, Southern Italy’s most iconic, cellar-worthy native varietal.
The newly released 2016 Salvatore Molettieri “Vigna Cinque Querce” Riserva is a thunderous reminder of that truth. Vinous Media awarded it a 96+, calling it “darkly alluring… poised for greatness… simply stunning.”
We featured the 2015 with great fanfare, and the 2016 takes it even further: cooler-toned, more refined, and built to cellar for decades. We tasted it once at the importer’s West Coast trade event and immediately secured the final six six-packs available in the country. This is not just the Barolo of the South—it’s Southern Italy’s soul in a bottle: power, grit, and terroir-driven magnificence.
For decades, the Taurasi DOCG was defined by a single dominant name—Mastroberardino, the pioneering estate that put the region on the map. But in the years since, Salvatore Molettieri has emerged as one of Taurasi’s most acclaimed producers, earning widespread recognition not through marketing, but through meticulous work in the vineyard. His estate, founded in 1988, now spans 13 hectares in the village of Montemarano, including the high-elevation “Cinque Querce” vineyard, where vines reach up to 80 years old. These old vines, rooted in limestone and clay soils at 550 meters, allow for a slow, late harvest—often stretching into November—and produce Aglianico of remarkable depth, structure, and aging potential.
The wine is darkly alluring and youthfully coiled, opening with aromas of sweet tobacco, cedar, espresso, and dried black cherry. Silken yet structured, it glides across the palate with vibrant acidity and a tactile mineral crunch. Still tightly wound, its power and poise promise a long, graceful evolution. Aglianico at its most majestic. Molte Graize!
Press Accolades:
96+ Points, Vinous Media:
“Darkly alluring, the 2016 Taurasi Cinque Querce Riserva wafts up with notes of sweet tobacco, cedar shavings, espresso bean and dried black cherries. Cool-toned and refined, it sweeps across the palate with silken textures, lifted by fresh acidity as tactile mineral tones add a crunchy sensation. The 2016 folds in upon itself, youthfully tense and tannic yet poised for greatness. Let this sleeping giant rest in the cellar for a good four to five years to integrate fully. Simply stunning.”
