When I’m in the mood for an Italian wine, I rarely reach for Nebbiolo or Sangiovese. Rather, I pull a bottle of Taurasi, made from the Aglianico grape. In my opinion, Taurasi is one of the great wines of the world, and no one makes a better version than Mastroberardino.
Incidentally, when I lived in Rome, I spent lots of time exploring the Italian boot, and seem to remember coming across aglianico made by a producer by the name of D’Angelo. D’Angelo’s wines were quite good, but I have never seen them in the US.
Starting to brick with a slight orange color at the rim. Intense, fragrant and complex bouquet of red cherry, flowers, leather, tobacco, earth, almonds and minerals. Violets emerge with vigorous swirling. The perfume is intoxicating, unfolding in layers. Wonderful to smell. Medium bodied and concentrated, there are notes of sweet macerated cherries, plums and earth that fill the mouth and linger. Truffles and mushrooms emerge at the end. What a finish. Silky mouthfeel enhances the experience. Remarkably, this is entering it’s plateau of maturity. A bottle drunk ten years ago hinted at its potential. A great bottle, and even better when accompanied by game and lamb.
The '68 Taurasi Riserva is legendary, and on the bucket list.
I don’t know if thirty years is the norm, but the '77 vintage of Mastroberardino is a great one, requiring patience. Friends who have drunk the immortal '68 tell me that well-stored bottles are still at peak. My passive cellar is very, very cold, so that factors into the slow evolution of my wines.
First, let me just say that this wine and this vintage is one of the tipping points for me when it came to gaining an understanding of why people should age wine. Clear as day I remember being at a friend BBQ when someone put this exact wine in front of me and it was the ah-ha moment.
Second, if this is the wine that Peter is thinking of, then I agree full heartedly. D’Angelo Donato? It’s one of my favorite producers of Aglianico del Vulture and an amazing value.
Mastroberardino made 4 special Taurasi in 1968: A Taurasi Riserva and 3 special subzone Taurasi: Montemarano, Pian d’Angelo, and Castelfranci. All 4 are special, but I’ve had the best success with the Riserva. Sadly, word got out a while ago, and these are all very expensive now.
Was it the Radici Taurasi normal (black label with red lettering), or the Radici Taurasi Riserva (white label with red lettering)? I’m quite curious about these different bottlings in recent and their expected longevity…Does anyone know if the winemaking techniques have been modernized in recent years, or whether climate change has likely had an impact such that these bottles would no longer be expected to last for 30+ years? I say this because over the past 5 years, I’ve tasted both the normal and Riserva bottlings of 2000, 2004, 2006 and the special “Antonio” bottling of the Riserva in 2008. While all of these bottles were lovely, none of them struck me as intensely unapproachable, or as wines I would necessarily expect to last for ages. That said, they were relatively balanced, which does tend to lead to longer-lived wines. Only the Antonio 2008 struck me as a wine with such aging potential that I would want to age for at least 10-15 years before revising.
In 1998, I bought six bottles of the 68 for $20 per bottle and a case of the 77 for $10 and drank as my house wine not knowing anything about the producer. I now drank all but they were exceptional. BTW, the 68 riserva is incredible but no need to wait. I guess John Gotti had a good taste.
Last week in Rome, I had a 2010 Nero Ne Taurasi by Il Cancelliere at a wine bar called Cul de Sac. It was young, but quite nice. Not familiar with this Taurasi. Anyone know anything about it?
Mr. Mastroberardino was the President of ??? (I forget the name, an Italian family growers group) and I was invited to their tasting in New York a few years ago. He did a short presentation and I spoke to him for a while afterwards. Very nice guy, very knowledgeable. I have only had aged versions of his wine two or three times and it is OUTSTANDING.