Ten years ago I drank more Italian wines than in the period that followed that, and which was (and still is) dominated by French wines. Back then the noble grape of the South, Aglianico was one of my favourites, and recently I felt that it’s time to revisit the genre so I ordered a few bottles.
The first one, the Azienda Agricola Montevetrano Core di Montevetrano Campania 2016 was a huge disappointment, a poorly made wine. But then I opened the Paternoster Synthesi, Aglianico del Vulture 2016: now we are talking.
Aglianico tends to be dark, sinewy and chewy, but here we have a Pinot Noir wannabe. Pale color, light extraction and crisp acidity – add the moderate tannin level to the list and the wine now really looks unusual. It’s quite funky, too, but not in bad way, animal notes, mature Parma ham leads the aromatics. There is some cheese in it as well, perhaps, besides hibiscus and strawberry, and even roses. No serious structure, but intensity is great, it’s full of flavor. Drinks so well, a lovely wine.