Community Tasting Notes 7

• noblerot23 Likes this wine: 92 points

  December 28, 2023 - 2013 is Leonetti Cellar’s first vintage of Aglianico, a grape variety found almost exclusively in Southern Italy. Renowned for having high tannin and high acidity, these wines need an informed aging program to subdue the harsher elements and transform them into something truly special. Here the wine was aged in a combination of terracotta amphorae and French oak over 44 months.
  Colour? A deep, dark, light absorbing black hole. Think ink for this drink. May be even darker than Petite Sirah or barn find crankcase oil.
  Aroma? Leather, cherry, tar and dusty rose.
  Taste? Plum and black cherry fruit with some smoked meat, licorice and cough syrup (not Buckley’s!). The tight tannins are tenacious but tamed, lingering and lovely before languishing to an elegant afterglow. No gum Dysoning here. Mouthfeel is more lean than light with an acidity that’s bright but not bracing. Great length with no afterburn despite the 13.9% alcohol. A surprising wine that offers Old World style from a New World stylist, perhaps most reminiscent of a broody Barolo. Clearly something special that’s unique and memorable. A definite head-scratcher that leaves one itching for more. Decanting recommended.
  Thanks JD.
  PS The wine paired beautifully with short ribs braised in Guinness.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• Jake112380 Likes this wine: 93 points

  July 29, 2023 - Still wound pretty tight. It took a few hours of being open for the nuance to start to show. Lots of black fruit and structure.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• RichlandMike wrote: 94 points

  May 14, 2021 - Opened this wine over Mother's day weekend. Gift from my sister. The bouquet opened up after decanting, with dried fig, dark fruit, and some minerality. The wine was a intense crimson with medium legs. Although we expected some, there was actually very light sediment in the bottle.
  The wine has a velvety mouth feel, cherry and apricot mid palette with balanced tannins, and a tart finish.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• Eric Guido Likes this wine: 92 points

  June 28, 2019 - The nose was dark and spicy, giving way to a smoky expression of dark earth, savory herbs, and black fruit. On the palate, soft textures greeted the senses, yet were quickly firmed up by youthful Aglianico tannin and brisk acids, as spiced black fruits washed across the senses, spiked by saline-minerality and herbal tones. The finish was long and structured, showing a hint of tart citrus, which added a little life to an impossibly young Aglianico. This was raised in Amphora, and it shows like a young high-end Taurasi or Vulture. Bravo.

  3 people found this helpful Comment

• hiker_guy Likes this wine:

  May 20, 2019 - Nose:
  New oak notes of vanilla and toasty notes. Dark, rich fruit notes. So far so good.
  Palate:
  starts off tannic, dark, mouth puckering tannins, Not at all smooth on the intake. Lots of edges.There's some fruit under all these tannins but this is still a baby.
  Worked with food quite well. Not so much on it's own tonight.
  Give this another decade and it will be better.

  Comment

Pro Reviews 2

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2013
• Type Red
• Producer Leonetti Cellar
• Varietal Aglianico
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard Serra Pedace Vineyard
• Country USA
• Region Washington
• SubRegion Columbia Valley
• Appellation Walla Walla Valley

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 280 (57%)
• Consumed 210 (43%)

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