Description
I Favati, Campi Taurasini Aglianico “Cretarossa”
I know I Favati to be a great producer, and the nomenclature on the label is familiar and meaningful to me, and still I was completely stunned by today’s supercharged red. It’s obnoxious, I know, but I’d like you to imagine me holding a megaphone to your face as I say the following: If you appreciate bold reds with a little bit of age and a lot of soul, you must try this one.
I’ll dig deeper into its word-salad label in a second, but first, the basics: This is an explosive single-vineyard Aglianico from the Taurasi region of Campania, which Italian wine lovers know and cherish as “the Barolo of the south.” Although Sicily’s Mount Etna has lately stolen some of the spotlight, Taurasi is still the premier red wine appellation of the Italian south, and its Aglianico variety stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Nebbiolo and Sangiovese on Italy’s native-grape mountaintop. I Favati’s “Cretarossa” is not labeled as a Taurasi, but it sure performs like one—in fact, I’d bet on it out-performing most Taurasis from the same vintage. Based on its label classification, I was expecting a Campanian answer to Rosso di Montalcino, or Langhe Nebbiolo: a lighter, more early-drinking counterpart to its powerfully structured sibling (Brunello di Montalcino; Barolo). But in this case, what we’ve got—at a shockingly modest $34—is a wine every bit as profound as its big brothers, if not more so. The 2013 “Cretarossa” has about five years of bottle age under its belt and it is in a beautiful place right now, right at the intersection of deep dark, fruit and woodsy, mineral savor. It’s the most memorable Aglianico I’ve had in a long time and, for those of you who love the bargain-priced aged Bordeaux we offer here on SommSelect, a kindred wine experience that should not be missed.
The I Favati estate covers about 16 hectares of vineyards in the Irpinia region of central Campania, which includes key winemaking towns such as Avellino, Tufo, and Taurasi. The vineyards are scattered throughout the foothills of the Apennine mountain range, in a diverse range of soils that includes clay/marl, limestone, and volcanic deposits. Dating to the 1920s, the I Favati estate has a long track record not just with reds from Aglianico but with finely tuned, well-structured whites from Fiano and Greco. When I tasted the 2013 “Cretarossa” recently, it was the latest reminder that these folks do everything well: I cannot recall ever tasting a wine from this property, red or white, that struck a false note.
“Cretarossa,” by the way, is the name of a single vineyard parcel in the village of Venticano, which is about 10 kilometers north of Taurasi. As in Barolo, Taurasi is the namesake town of a wine appellation (DOCG) which includes many other surrounding towns, of which Venticano is one. Aglianico grapes from the Cretarossa site, which sits at 400-500 meters’ elevation, could be used in a Taurasi bottling if I Favati so chose, but instead they opted for the more recently created “Irpinia-Campi Taurasini” designation. Established as a DOC (Denomination of Controlled Origin) in 2005, this appellation applies to wine sourced from vineyards in the “lands of Taurasi” that isn’t subjected to the same aging minimums as Taurasi before the wine is put on sale. Whereas Taurasi DOCG wines must be aged a minimum of three years by law (including a minimum of one year in barrel) before bottling, Campi Taurasini DOC wines are only required to age 9 months, with no wood requirement.
Nevertheless, whether the wine is a Taurasi or a Campi Taurasini, I Favati far exceeds the legal minimums—creating some of the region’s most ageworthy reds in the process. The 2013 Cretarossa spent a little over a year in used French oak barriques followed by further tank aging before bottling, and it has just now thrown off some of the youthful austerity typical of Aglianico. It’s worth noting that Aglianico, like Piedmont’s Nebbiolo, is a late-ripening variety, and one prone to aggressive tannins when not fully ripe—but there were no such problems in 2013, a warm, even season that produced beautifully ripe fruit harvested in the first weeks of November.
No, “November” is not a misprint. This is when Aglianico is typically harvested in Campania (and neighboring Basilicata), and the complexity derived from such a lengthy growing season is on glorious display in this 2013—a muscular grizzly bear of a wine just emerging from hibernation. In the glass, it’s a deep, nearly opaque ruby-black with hints of garnet and brick orange at the rim, with aromas that make you feel as if you’ve just stepped into a humidor: saturated fruit aromas of black cherry, mulberry, and black plum share the stage with more mature notes of orange peel, licorice, grill char, tobacco, wild herbs, graphite, Turkish coffee, and leather. Given the hardy tannic structure of Aglianico, not a lot of wood—and especially not a lot of new wood—is necessary, and this wine has a very restrained oak component. It’s all about dark, spicy fruit and dusty, mineral-rich earth, with tannins that time has sanded down to a smooth, fine-grained accent note. It’s heady and intense but also beautifully balanced, with shades of everything from aged Left Bank Bordeaux to Malbec from Cahors to richer styles of Barolo. If enjoying a bottle now, decant it about 30 minutes before serving at 60 degrees in Bordeaux stems, but be advised that this wine—this $34 bottle of wine—has a good 10 more years of positive evolution ahead of it if kept well. And, given how we’re all mostly trapped at home and likely grilling outside even more than usual, I couldn’t recommend a better wine to accompany a well-charred cut of beef. I am salivating as I type these words—this must happen soon! Enjoy!
