Description
D’Angelo, Aglianico del Vulture
Most people who work in wine can name bottles that are indelibly etched in their memory—the ones that helped shape the way they think about wine, the ones that forever deepened their love of wine, or both. My pal André Mack, a celebrated sommelier and now winemaker, wrote a whole book on the subject, listing 99 such bottles. If I were ever to compile such a list, you can be sure D’Angelo’s Aglianico del Vulture would be on it.
When I first started traveling in Italy and studying its wines more than 20 years ago, D’Angelo was a regional benchmark, and it continues in that role today, perfectly capturing the character of the Aglianico grape grown in the volcanic soils of Monte Vulture, in the tiny, mountainous region of Basilicata. If you were writing a wine list and wanted a single bottle to capture everything that makes this part of the world special, this wine would be a perfect choice. Wedged between Puglia (the “heel”) and Calabria (the “toe”) in southern Italy, Basilicata has historically been one of its poorest and least-traveled regions, meaning historic family wineries like D’Angelo have toiled in relative obscurity—despite having one of Italy’s noblest red grapes, and greatest terroirs, at its disposal. This is a pitch-perfect expression of Aglianico: dark-fruited and brooding, smoky, woodsy, stony, aromatically complex and utterly unique…everything I’ve come to expect from Monte Vulture’s dark, mineral-rich, rust-hued basalt soils. Meanwhile, look at the price: Rarely (if ever) do you find a wine this iconic for this little!
When I first visited Basilicata, I quickly learned that “southern” Italy can mean many things. It is hardly uniform in either topography or climate, as Basilicata so dramatically illustrates. The region is almost entirely consumed by the Apennine mountains, with little slivers of coast on both the Mediterranean and Ionian seas. Its capital, Potenza, sits at the highest elevation of any regional capital in Italy. Monte Vulture is an extinct volcano in the northern reaches of the region, with vineyards that climb as high as 700 meters in some places, and as such this is a cool climate—providing the already late-ripening Aglianico with an extremely long growing season. It’s not uncommon for Aglianico del Vulture to be harvested in mid- or even late November (even later than Piedmont’s Nebbiolo in some instances).
Before Sicily’s Mount Etna and its Nerello Mascalese grape became the flavor of the month, Aglianico from both Monte Vulture and the neighboring Campanian appellation of Taurasi were the southern Italian reds getting all the attention. D’Angelo was the stalwart—the first stop for intrepid wine writers visiting the region and the standard by which newer-arriving producers on the scene would be judged. Originally founded in the 1930s by Rocco D’Angelo, and now run by his grandchildren, Rocco and Emilia D’Angelo, this family estate currently farms 35 hectares of vineyards in this remote, incredibly picturesque part of southern Italy. The thickly forested Vulture volcano is long extinct, but its ashy remnants remain, along with a few deep-blue crater lakes near its summit.
Sourced from an assortment of estate vineyards at 400-500 meters’ elevation, this 100% Aglianico from 2015 spent 20 months aging in large, used oak vats before bottling. At the risk of sounding repetitive, I’ll nevertheless say: If you want to get to know Italian Aglianico, this is the perfect bottle to start with. And while I can’t see many people doing it with a wine at this price point, this wine is built to age, showing Aglianico’s classic tannic structure.
In the glass, D’Angelo’s 2015 is a deep ruby moving to magenta at the rim, with heady aromas of tangy blackberries, black cherries, violets, grilled herbs, espresso, tobacco, grilled meat, and pulverized black stones. On the palate, it has a brooding, forceful quality and some grip to the texture, so two serving suggestions are key to maximizing enjoyment: First, decant the wine a good 45 minutes before serving. Second, keep the temperature cool (60-ish degrees), which will de-emphasize the tannins and point up the beautiful dark fruit and florals (as I’ve noted in other Aglianico offers, the variety for me is reminiscent of Malbec from classic terroirs like Cahors). Serve it in Burgundy stems to accentuate its Barolo-like aromatic profile and pair it with a meaty braise like the attached. This is a perfect “winter wine,” too, fit to warm body and soul alike. Don’t miss it!
