2018 Aglianico "Fumo e Terra"

Aglianico (ah-L’YEE’AH-nee-koh) - the ancient one. Maybe you've never heard of it. Maybe you've seen it mentioned in recent articles in The New York times, Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, or Decanter. Maybe, just maybe, you have tasted it and fallen under its spell.

Aglianico hails from the sunny, volcanic soils of Southern Italy. Indeed, it is King of the South. It often gets mentioned alongside Nebbiolo and Sangiovese, as part of the powerful triumvirate of Italian red wines. Aglianico makes full-bodied, long-lived wines both unforgettable and powerful.

Fumo e Terra, meaning "Smoke and Earth" in Italian, highlights this wine's volcanic ancestry.  The 2018 vintage is bold and brawny with notes of leather, black olives, ripe blackberries.  Very limited.

"... offers impressive complexity with a long succession of aromas including cranberries, smoke, and baking spice. The bouquet is also heavy on bramble and forest floor. The wine shows robust fruit and balanced oak spice. The tannins are well managed, and it should last in the cellar for over a decade."  -- Pierre DuMont, Piedmont Post