Di Majo Norante Contado Riserva 2016
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Winemaker Notes
The wine has a ruby red color with garnet reflections, a broad and intense bouquet with hints of ripe fruit. It is soft and velvety in the mouth, very harmonious with a dense body, rightly tannic with a black cherry aftertaste.
Ideal with savory foods, rich meats with high fat content, game and cheese. Pair this wine also with vegetarian dishes such as roasted vegetables and Parmigiana di Melanzane as well as with legumes.
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Vinous
Ashen soils, crushed stone, animal musk, plum and exotic savory spices can all be found in the dark and sultry 2016 Aglianico Riserva Contado. It's velvety yet not weighty, energized by bright acidity with tart black fruits, minerals and grippy tannins that saturate the senses. These are unseen depths here which are currently restrained by Contado's hulking structure, yet there's also a harmony that tempts the imagination as to what's to come. Currants, wild herbs, salted licorice and hints of tobacco linger long. This is a like a well-muscled stallion, yet it needs some time in the cellar to soften.
Other Vintages
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James
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Founded in 1968, the Di Majo estate cultivates more than 200 acres under vine. In order to ensure consistent, high-quality production for all the estate’s wines, Alessio Di Majo hired renowned oenologist Riccardo Cotarella as a consultant. In addition to producing quality wine at an outstanding value, the Di Majo family is dedicated to practicing environmentally sound agriculture. The Di Majo Norante winery sits on the estate of the Marquis Norante of Santa Cristina in the region of Molise, along the Adriatic Sea between Puglia and Abruzzo. The cultivation of vines in this area dates back to 500 BC, when the region was inhabited by two pre-Roman civilizations, the Sanniti and the Osci. The estate has been dedicated to growing vines since the 1800s. In the 1960s a modern cantina was constructed and vines were replanted in the Ramitello area. Optimal exposure, constant breezes during the summer, excellent soil composition and a slope toward the Sciabolone and Madonna Grande valleys combine to create a particularly favorable environment for the production of wine here.
Making its home in the mountainous southern Italy, Aglianico is a bold red variety that is late to ripen and often spends until November on the vine. It thrives in Campania as the exclusive variety in the age-worthy red wine called Taurasi. Aglianico also has great success in the volcanic soils of Basilicata where it makes the robust, Aglianico del Vulture. Somm Secret—The name “Aglianico” bears striking resemblance to Ellenico, the Italian word for "Greek," but no evidence shows it has Greek ancestry. However, it first appeared in Italy around an ancient Greek colony located in present-day Avellino, Campania.
This mountainous region south of Abruzzo comes in second after Valle d’Aosta as Italy’s smallest and least populated region. Wine production is largely reserved for cooperatives with the main varieties as Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. Plantings of grape varieties from its neighboring region of Campania—whites Fiano and Greco di tufo and the red, Aglianico—have increased recently.