2017 Colli di Lapio di Romano Clelia ‘Vigna Andrea’ Taurasi

WSI94 Gorgeous red, deep dark fruit, powerful and expressive! Very smooth tannins for an Aglianico, with bright red fruit notes throughout and a savory mouth-watering finish. Wow!
VIN93 The 2017 Taurasi Vigna Andrea releases a burst of crushed ashen stone and animal musk before evolving to show red currants and dusty rose. This is round and pliant upon entry, with a dense wave of black fruits motivated by brisk acids. Sweet spices and violet-tinged inner florals create a prettier impression toward the close. The cheeks pucker through the finale, which is structured yet not painfully so, as the 2017 tapers off persistent with notes of wild berry and licorice. There is so much balanced concentration here, likely the result of the vintage; only another two to three years of cellaring will be required, at which point the Vigna Andrea should be a showboat of a Taurasi.
Estate Notes: 100% Aglianico. Calcareous clay marl soil with sandstone. 600 meters elevation. Harvested by hand at the beginning of November. Fermentation in stainless steel with pumping over for 20 days. Maturation in 30 hl oak casks for 12 months, plus 12 months in bottle. First vintage 2000, approximately 350 cases produced annually.