Steve Costigan hosted a few of us on Tues w/ some Aglianicos:
1. Mastrobardino Mastro IGT: Aglinico Campania (13%; Leonardo LaCasio Imprts) Atripalda/Campania 2011: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; rather rustic/earthy some plummy/Aglinico bit leafy/herbal light pencilly/oak bit cedary/oldRed bit complex nose; soft bit tired/dried out some cedary/oldRed slight plummy/Aglinico some complex flavor w/ light/drying tannins; lost a lot of fruit & a bit on the tired side but still somewhat interesting for an old red. $13.00
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2. Mastrobardino RediMore Dd'OC: Irpinia Aglianico (13.5%; WinebowImprts) Mastroberardino/Atripalda 2017: Dark color; light toasty/oak strong plummy/blackberry/Aglinico/licorice slight earthy/dusty/OV fairly rich bit complex nose; lightly tart some rich/lush some licorice/plummy/blackberry/Aglianico some toasty/oak slightly earthy/rustic flavor w/ modest rough tannins; very long some plummy/licorice/Aglianico/berry some rough/coarse finish; still plenty of Aglianico fruit & an interesting rustic Companian red. $20.00 (PrimaIlC)
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3. Elena Fucci Titolo Aglianico del Vulture (14.5%; Lyra LLC/SouthSanFrancisco) Elena Fucci/Barile/Basilicata 2012: Very dark/near black color; rather earthy/dusty/OV strong blackberry/chocolatey/licorice/Aglianico lightly floral light toasty/oak somewhat complex nose; fairly tart/tangy rather rugged/hard/structured some earthy/dusty/rustic very strong licorice/blackberry/Aglianico slight floral/lilacs some complex flavor w/ strong rough tannins; very long/lingering earthy/dusty/rustic strong blackberry/licorice/Aglianico rugged/structured/rough/rustic some toasty/oak bit floral/perfumed some complex finish; a rather classic rugged Aglianico that shows little evolution & needs more age. $40.00 (K&L)
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4. Ryme Aglianico LunaMattaVnyd/PasoRobles (14.1%) 2012: Very dark/near black color; some ripe/PR jammy strong toasty/Fr.oak fairly intense chocolaty/licorice/Aglianico slightly rustic nose; some tart/tangy intense boysenberry/Aglianico/licorice/chocolaty strong toasty/oak quite structured/tannic/rugged flavor w/ ample rough/hard tannins; very long intense Aglianico/boysenberry/licorice strong toasty/oak hard/rugged finish w/ ample tannins; a big/structured hard/rugged Aglianico that's aging at a glacial pace; lots of oak for a Ryme.
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5. Rosa d'OroVnyds Aglianico ClearLake/LakeCnty (14.6%; EB; 7 brls) ClearLake 2010: Very dark color; rather earthy/loamy/bit root cellar strong licorice/chocolaty/Aglianico blackberry/plummy/bit floral/violets some pencilly/oak rather perfumed lovely nose; lightly tart/tangy strong licorice/chocolaty/plummy/blackberry/Aglianico rather pencilly/oak lightly floral/violets somewhat smooth flavor w/ light/smooth tannins; very long strong licorice/blackberry/Aglianico fairly smooth rather complex finish w/ light smooth tannins; an Aglianico that has evolved into a very atractive red.
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6. Ryme Aglianico LunaMattaVnyd/PasoRobles (14.1%) 2011: Very dark/near black color; very strong toasty/Fr.oak very strong blackberry/plummy/Aglianico/chocolaty slight PR/jammy/ripe bit complex nose; rather tart/tangy fairly rugged/tannic strong blackberry/Aglianico/licorice/plummy fairly toasty/oak bit complex flavor w/ tough/rugged tannins; very long/lingering intense Aglianico/licorice/blackberry strong toasty/oak rather rugged/structured/har finish; not showing much evolution & still a pretty rugged red.
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7. Ryme Aglianico LunaMattaVnyd/PasoRobles (13.1%) 2010: Very dark color w/ slight bricking; some pencilly/toasty/Fr.oakstrong blackberry/Aglianico/plummy/licorice fairly complex nose; intense blackberry/Aglianico/plummy/licorice some toasty/Fr.oak slightly drying rather hard/tannic/rough/hard some complex flavor w/ ample rough/drying tannins; very long strong Aglianico/blackberry fairly rugged/tannic finish w/ some drying/astringent tannins; a lovely developed complex nose but still pretty rugged on the palate & starting to dry out a bit; probably nwill never outlive the tannins.
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8. Harrington Aglianico GianelliVnyd/TuolumneCnty (14.1%) 2014: Med.dark color; rather strong toasty/pencilly/Fr.oak some blackberry/boysenberry/Aglianico fairly spicy/bit herbal/grassy rather complex beautiful nose; lightly tart/tangy bit herbal/spicy some blackberry/boysenberry/Aglianico some pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak rather balanced/structured fairly complex flavor w/ modest bit bitey tannins; very long/lingering fairly complex strong blackberry/Aglianico rather pencilly/Fr.oak finish w/ modest bit hard tannins; an Aglianico that can only be made by the hand of a PinotNoir producer; manages to hold the rugged tannins in check.
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9. Ryme Passito Aglianico LunnaMattaVnyd/PasoRobles (13.2%; RS: 16.1%) 2014: Very dark color; very intense very ripe intense licorice/chocolaty/boysenberry/Aglianico bit PR/jammy rather toasty/oak beautiful nose; quite sweet intense boysenberry/ripe/Aglianico/chocolaty some toasty/Fr.oak bit soft some complex flavor w/ light chewey tannins; very long/lingering quite sweet intense fruit finish; a beautiful example of a Passito red yet doesn't show much in the way of overripe/raisened/pruney character; will probably live for yrs.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Steve is a fan of Aglianico (for whatever reason) & decided to pull some from his cellar to try them together.
The grape appears to be a native variety in Southern Italy. Primarily in Taurasi/Campania and Aglianico del Vulture/Basilicata. It tends to produce a rather tannic & concentrated red in its youth and benefits from a few yrs of aging.
The Rymes have always been favorites of mine. They tend to be pretty big/extracted reds w lots of toasty/oak, which is atypical of Ryme wines. None of these were showing much in the way of evolution & seem to be aging at a glacial place. They may be a wine that never outlive their tannns.
Their Aglianicos come from the LunaMattaVnyd in Westside Paso of Jon&Jodi Ahner. Farmed by Steph Terrizzi, they have a lot of interesting Italian varietals in there. Alas, they recently sold their vnyd to a Daou Wnry and it has all been ripped out and planted to Cab/Merlot, which rivals the pillaging & destruction we are currently seeing in the Ukraine. So no more Aglianico for Ryme unless they can find another source.
I was really impressed how well PietroButtita's Aglianico has evolved. Upon release, I found it to be a rather underwhelming pretty (just that) expression of Aglianico, not particularly big & extracted. It has developed into a really lovely expression of mature Aglianico that the Italians would love to make of theirs.
My favorite was the BryanHarrington Aglianico. It was the most complex & restrained of the Aglianicos yet still showed a bit to the Aglianico rugged character. An Aglianico that could only be made by the sense of restraint that a Pinot producer can bring to the table. A beautiful Aglianico. Would like to know where those grapes are now going.
I was fairly impressed by all the Aglianicos. It's a variety they should be planting all up&down the Coast of Calif. I've climbed aboard Steve's Aglianico bandwagon.
Tom
