I have sung the praises of the Aglianico grape on this site for many years now. I think of the Taurasi region of Campania, and the slopes of Monte Vulture area in neighboring Basilicata—Italy’s two key Aglianico growing zones—as holy places. But lately, much as I appreciate the “big” wines from these regions, the wines I most want to drink are their littler, less-heavily-oaked siblings.
I could say the same about the great reds of Montalcino and Barolo: Sometimes you get a less obstructed view of the grape and place in the Rosso di Montalcino, or the Langhe Nebbiolo (at least in the near term, anyway, and for a lot less money). “Irpinia” is the name of the broader region surrounding the Taurasi DOCG, in the same way that “Langhe” is the area encompassing Barolo, and today’s Irpinia Aglianico from Fonzone is one of those little-brother wines that gets it 100% right. With Aglianico, a grape known for broodingly tannic, densely concentrated reds, finesse is not often part of the discussion. The marquee appellation wines, especially those to which a healthy dose of oak has been applied, can be a little
impegnativo (challenging) to drink—in their youth, anyway, which is when most of us drink them. In an ideal world, equipped with a much bigger wine budget than I have now, I’d buy some of Fonzone’s monumental Taurasi to lay down and drink today’s wine, very happily, now. Instead I’m going to stick with this wine alone, and I won’t miss a step—this has everything I could possibly want from an Aglianico, without any excess weight or cost getting in the way.
Fonzone is a relatively new arrival on the Campanian wine scene, having been founded in 2005, but Lorenzo Fonzone Caccese and his sons have wasted no time establishing a reputation for beautifully crafted whites and reds alike. The estate is based in Paternopoli, one of the villages in the Taurasi appellation area, where they cultivate 12 hectares of Aglianico in soils of clay and limestone. Vineyard altitudes extend from 360-430 meters in these Apennine foothills, a cool environment for the late-ripening Aglianico, which often isn’t harvested until late October or early November. Taurasi is nicknamed “The Barolo of the South” for good reason—the long growing season results in reds of stunning aromatic complexity and powerful structure.
Like a Langhe Nebbiolo, or Rosso di Montalcino, you can think of Irpinia Aglianico as a Taurasi that went down a weight class. This beautifully balanced 2015 (which may owe some of its softer tannic profile to the generous proportions of the vintage), was harvested in the third week of October, destemmed, and subjected to a brief maceration on its skins during fermentation in stainless steel. It aged for about 10 months in a combination of steel tanks and used barrels.
The story here is Fonzone’s brilliant management of Aglianico’s often-aggressive tannins, which leaves us with a more open door to the many charms of Aglianico. This variety is all about dark fruit and smoky, earthy savor, at times reminiscent of Malbec and/or Syrah, and there’s all that full-throttle aroma and flavor here, without making you feel like you just took a two-by-four to the head: In the glass it’s a deep, nearly opaque ruby-black moving to magenta at the rim, redolent of crushed blackberry, Morello cherry, cranberry, violets, dried herbs, leather, ground espresso, and a characteristically Aglianico note of pipe tobacco. It is medium-bodied for a wine from this part of the world, vivid and floral and well-balanced in its mix of saturated fruit and earthy savor. Decant it about 30 minutes before enjoying in Bordeaux stems at—and I can’t stress this enough—a nice, cool 60 degrees. The cooler temperature will soften the tannins, accentuate the dark fruit, and make the wine immeasurably better. As for the food, something gutsy and grilled is in order, maybe on the gamier side. As Summer turns to Fall, this is a perfect wine to have on your table—it will wrap you in its warm embrace!
