Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Monday, May 22, 2023 - 100% organically farmed Aglianico, harvested in November. Fermented and macerated with the skins for 20 to 25 days in stainless steel tanks. Aged for 18 months in new oak barriques. 14,5% alcohol.

Deep, slightly evolved and somewhat translucent pomegranate color. The nose feels fragrant with attractive, fine-tuned aromas of ripe dark berries, some fresh black cherries, light licorice tones, a little bit of plummy fruit, a hint of dried flowers and a touch of savory wood spice. The wine feels dense, stern and slightly evolved with a medium-to-moderately full body and dry, intense flavors of wizened red plums, some leathery tones, a little bit of crunchy redcurrants and sour cherry bitterness, light woody notes of savory oak spice, a hint of dried cherry and a ferrous touch of blood. The overall feel is quite structure-driven with the rather high acidity and assertive, grippy tannins. The finish is dry, tannic and pretty tightly-knit with a long, savory aftertaste of tart lingonberries and sour cherry bitterness, some woody tones, a little bit of sweet red plum, light gravelly mineral nuances, a hint of licorice root and a touch of blood.

A very impressive, stern and quite dead-serious Aglianico that reminds me both aromatically and structurally quite a bit of a traditionalist Barolo. I was surprised to learn from the producer's website that the wine is aged in new oak barriques - either the wine carries the oak influence exceptionally well, or then the description of the wine on the website might be different from this vintage. I most certainly didn't pick any obvious new oak characteristics from this wine (unlike from several other Aglianicos we tasted at the same time). Based on the somewhat evolved overall feel and slightly dried-fruit character of the wine, I'd say it might not be that cellarworthy - even if the stern, grippy tannins could use some additional aging! However, I feel the wine isn't going to be falling apart anytime soon. Drink now or over the next 5-7 years. Priced according to its quality at 28€. Although the wine was my favorite of the evening, it got only 4 points from the eleven participants in our tasting of eleven Aglianicos del Taburno, making it finish on fourth place.

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