Quintodecimo is a small estate in Mirabella Eclano, in the hills of Irpinia, and this is Aglianico grown on a single vineyard and held back long enough to earn the Riserva name. Taurasi is the only DOCG in southern Italy built on the grape, and it does not make anything light.
- Aglianico, the grape of Taurasi.
- Taurasi Riserva DOCG, Campania, southern Italy.
- 2015, a warm, even vintage in Irpinia.
- Full body, high tannin, high acidity.
- Dry, 14.5% alcohol.
How it is made
Taurasi must be 100% Aglianico, and the Riserva tier carries a longer minimum ageing before release than the standard wine. That rule exists because the grape needs it. Aglianico ripens late, well into autumn, and it arrives with tannin and acid in quantities that a couple of years in the cellar will not soften.
How it tastes
Black cherry, leather and tobacco, with dried herbs running through. The tannins are firm and the acidity is high, which is what holds a wine this full together. Nothing here is soft or sweet. It reads as dry, structured and savoury, and it takes time in the glass to open.
Where it comes from
Irpinia is the inland hill country of Campania, east of Naples, a landscape of ridges and old volcanic ground. Taurasi is its red, and Aglianico has been grown there for a very long time, long enough that the Greeks were said to have brought it south. The vineyard name Vigna Quintodecimo points to a single site rather than a blend across the estate.
Good to know
Aglianico is often grouped with Nebbiolo and Sangiovese as one of Italy's three great red grapes, and Taurasi is the only DOCG in the south built on it. It was the first in southern Italy to reach that status.
Contains alcohol.
