thoughts on contemporary Taurasi aglianico

I haven’t tried an aglianico in a few years. I’d like to find a Taurasi that isn’t so huge. I see many tasting notes nowadays that say things like, “oozes with gobs of lush, black fruit.” Realizing it is quite a tannic wine in its youth, which is fine with me, can anyone suggest a producer who practices a bit of restraint, maintaining some natural acidity and balance in more of an Old World style?

I just had the 2008 Lonardo Taurasi Vigne d’Alto which was excellent but you can’t go wrong with wines from Mastroberardino.

I do not have that much experience with Taurasi - have only had a few in my life. Not sure if I yet understand it well enough to determine who is more traditional, who is more modern and how wines age. In other areas of the world (e.g, Bordeaux, Burgundy, California Cabernet, Barolo, for example) my palate skews heavily to the more traditional.

That said, I recently had a Cantine Lonardo, aglianico, Taurasi 2009 that I thought was quite good. Seems to have good aging potential. Hope that this helps.

Contrade/Lonardo, Molettieri Cinque Querce, Mastroberardino Radici, Tecce, Struzziero, Perillo, Urciolo, Calafe’… Even Guastaferro, which can be slightly on the bigger side of things, but can also be very high-resolution and, well, almost elegant in a good vintage :slight_smile:. These names should stand you in good stead, depending on what’s available.

Or wait a generation with your Taurasi, reward pending.

Tvrtko, isn’t Molettieri quite big, not quite old world?

Is that your impression? Definitely not my experience at all, based on vintages from the early '90s and up to '04 that I have tasted at varying levels of maturity.

+1, definitely more new world.

I wish I could tell you what my impression is, but I have just never tasted it. :frowning:
This is what I read on a recent focus of Enogea on Taurasi. They say this is rather a recent development, so perhaps the vintages you drank were in a different style.

Must be a recent development, and, indeed, I cannot really vouch for anything post-'04. (Never really crossed my mind I would need to qualify that recommendation, as, for some reason, I would hardly expect people to be drinking Taurasi that is less than 10 years old… Maybe I should have :slight_smile: ).
I bought some '06 as well, but the most recent vintage I have actually tasted is the '04. If someone thinks that is “new world”, then all I can say is that person and I definitely have very different ideas about what constitutes an “old world”-style wine.
I still have some '95 (fully mature) and '98 (early maturity) in the cellar. If you ever pop up around these parts, let me know and I’ll very gladly open some for you, so you can tell me if you think it tastes like “new world” :slight_smile:

I like everything from Mastroberardino, but all their Taurasi wines really require at least a decade, usually more, to reach a mature stage. The regular Taurasi Radici from the 2005 vintage was really classy and promising earlier this year but about five years too young, while the 1999 Riserva was in a beautiful spot a year ago.