Quintodecimo (Irpinia, Campania)
The best of the best, it’s what we seek out daily to offer you who we think are at the top of their game from any of the world’s top wine growing regions.
If you know anything about the top producers in Campania, they are not just Quintodecimo, but also Luigie Tecce, Rafaele Pagano at Joaquin, Antonio Caggiano, Galardi, Mastroberardino, Feudi di San Gregorio, and for me on the coast Marisa Cuomo.
Luigi Moio, founder and proprietor of Quintodecimo, is an enologist, enology professor, and he also helped 3 of those wineries I mentioned get started and his fingerprints are all over those wineries to this day!
Ok, so who is Quintodecimo?
A quick google search got me to a great Wine Spectator article that was great from last year HERE (no paywall).
In short, Quintodecimo is run by Luigi Moio, a highly respected and talented Italian enology professor. “Southern Italy’s most Erudite winemaker” is how Robert Camuto of the Wine Spectator appropriately describes him. Not surprisingly, “Moio studied primarily in Burgundy, where he earned a Ph.D. for his work on the chemistry of aromas and flavors in wine and food. His bestselling 2016 Italian wine book, Il Respiro del Vino (The Breath of Wine), was published in French translation earlier this year. When he talks, he can sound like an introspective and philosophical Frenchman.”
You can purchase these wines here: HERE
Quintodecimo Fiano di Avelino Exultet 2022 94WA
Exultet is a sophisticated and elegant interpretation of Fiano di Avellino. It is a cru produced exclusively with the grapes of one Fiano vineyard. It is yellow and luminous with green reflections and fragrances of linden, acacia and thyme. It is well structured with flavours of exotic fruit, citrus and honey and a very soft mineral note. This elegance derives from a partial fermentation in small oak barrels. It is a wine with great longevity which can also age for some decades thanks to its richness in precursors of aroma and the integrity of its freshness and taste.
Our Tasting Note: Medium straw yellow. Med+ nose and palate. Meyer lemon and orange citrus, spring peach, mineral, some light waxy notes, a smoky flint note (ala sancerre/pouilly fume). Medium bodied, med/med+ acidity, the long finish has good flavor density and persistence (aka a lot of flavor but not weighty).
Quintodecimo Falanghina Via del Campo 2022 94WA
Via del Campo perfectly expresses the fruity and mineral scents typical of Falanghina wine. It is a cru obtained exclusively with grapes from only one vineyard of Falanghina. It is characterized by a luminous golden color and fragrances of apple, pineapple, herbs and field flowers with refined minerals and salty notes. The delicate structure, releases menthol and toasted notes derived from the short stay during the partial fermentation in small oak barrels. Immediately likeable when young, this wine evolves in a more complex bouquet after some years in the bottle.
Our Tasting Note: A shade lighter of straw yellow than the Fiano with green flecks. Med+ nose and palate. More fruit than the Fiano, peach, nectarine, and mandarin oranges are juicy and fresh, mandarin peel too, crushed stones, some light honeysuckle and blossom. Med body, med+ acidity, rounder textures lead to a long, layered finish.
Quintodecimo Greco di Tufo Jaune d’Arles 2022 95WA
The Greco di Tufo grape is characterized by a content of coloring matter higher than the other white grapes of the Campania region. For this reason, at full maturation, this grape becomes golden with amber tones on the sun-exposed side. The must is reddish ochre. The wine, if not clarified, has an intense golden colour. An extreme and rigorous interpretation of the Greco di Tufo wine. It is a cru produced with one vineyard of Greco grapes. The ancient yellow-golden colour, typical of the denomination, is more intense also thanks to the partial fermentation in new oak barrels and thanks to the complete absence of any clarification treatments. It is a white wine with the structure of a red wine, powerful and refined, characterized by a deep minerality blended with flavours of apricot and quince marmalade and by a full and fresh taste. Giallo d’Arles has also an extraordinary predisposition to maturation in bottle, obtaining year-by-year elegance, complexity and harmony. The name given to the wine is a tribute to Van Gogh’s favourite color during his stay in Arles: a yellow which is a prelude of red.
Our Tasting Note: Med+ lemon yellow verging into gold in color. Med+/pronounced nose and palate. Summer peach, nectarines, quince, meyer lemon curd, with a good mineral core, a tang of saline, something you don’t see in Greco too much. Med+ density is striking, but fresh, linear in a dense way. Med acidity. Long, persistent finish, the longest of the 3.
The Greco here is truly amazing, it is a grape that can make pretty big white wines, and while this is the most endowed in the lineup it carries a lot of freshness and is light on its feet.
Quintodecimo Taurasi Riserva Vigna Grande Cerzito 2018 94WA
The Taurasi Riserva Vigna Grande Cerzito is a one-hectare cru from Aglianico, planted in 2004 on the southern side of the Quindecimo estate. The soil, originating from fallen ash and pumice, is volcanic in nature, non-calcareous, well-drained, deep and with a coarse texture, conditions which favor a high availability of oxygen for the roots. the vineyard, at 440 meters above sea level with a slope of 15%, has a planting density of 5000 vines per hectare and is cultivated using counter-espalier methods with spurred cordon pruning. Vigna Grande Cerzito is famous for its power and elegance, with its refined aromas of cherry, plum and chocolate and its fleshy and delicate sip. Very long-lived, it becomes even more refined and elegant as the years pass, completing itself with very fresh notes of mint, eucalyptus and incense.
Our tasting note: Wow! One sip and you can tell this is richly concentrated and incredibly well-crafted wine. Med+ nose, cherry, plum, chocolate, subtle oak toast, med+ spices. Extremely long finish. Long aging potential. Just 2,129 bottles made!
Taurasi Riserva Vigna Quintodecimo 2018 95+WA
One of the region’s headline wines, the Quintodecimo 2018 Taurasi Riserva Vigna Quintodecimo (with fruit from limestone soils) is gorgeous and makes a beautiful first impression. This was a cool and challenging growing season with rain at inopportune times followed by a hot summer; however, the talented team at this estate has navigated these obstacles brilliantly. Ripe blackberry and baked plum are framed by exotic spice, Spanish cedar and campfire ash. The tannins will soften with more bottle time, and this vintage remains quite tight and dense at this young stage. Give it time. Only 2,129 bottles exist.
The Taurasi Riserva Vigna Quintodecimo is a cru of two hectares of Aglianico, obtained from the vineyard of the same name, planted in 2001 on the north-west side of the estate. the soil is made up of expandable clay rocks, very rich in limestone. the vineyard, at 420 meters above sea level with a 25% slope and north/west exposure, is cultivated in counter-espalier with spurred cordon pruning and has a planting density of 5,000 vines per hectare. Vigna Quintodecimo is a subtle balance of small fruits, spices and floral notes. Seductive for its class and aromatic intensity, it is completed by tasty and well-expressed tannins in a deep and refined style. It is a wine of extraordinary richness and elegance which reaches its peak within the first twenty years, retaining its characteristics for many years afterwards.
You can purchase these wines here: HERE