Aglianico

We have a work around on the computer problems since the replacement part is on back order for a couple of weeks. Things look a little less "intense" on my screen but other than that things should work fine.

A month or so ago the New York Times did a tasting of a large group of wines based on the Aglianico grape from southern Italy.

They seemed reasonably priced and sounded good so the search was on locally for a bottle. Pictured here is the result of the search, a 2003 Alcione Aglianico Puglia. While the Times recommended wines mostly from Campania and Basilicata, all the local market had was wines from Puglia, an area just north of those the Times tasted.

I opened it last week and it was dark and full of blackberries and very dark cherries on the nose. There was nothing subtle about the wine, and since it comes from a hot weather area it's obviously made from fully ripe grapes. There were some nice tannins and decent acid in the wine, but the fruit was foremost. The wine reminded me of a properly made zinfandel - one with some restraint to it. It checked in at 14% alcohol but tasted like it had less. For $15 it's a good wines.

The first half of the bottle paired with a small strip steak and that was a great match. The second half paired even better with some pasta with a fresh tomato and shallot sauce. Two good meals and the wine.

I made a quick call to the local Italian wine guru (and importer) and he said there weren't many in the market, but he had a few from Campania in his portfolio. He decided to drop a few off at the local store for sampling and sample them one night this coming week. Invitation accepted.