Lonardo Taurasi 2015
-
Enthusiast
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The wine has an intense ruby red color, appearing rather dense. On the nose, it is rich and persistent with hints of crunchy red fruit, floral elements, notes of graphite, with a subtle spiciness. On the palate, it feels warm, with soft tannins well integrated into the body of the wine, avoiding excessive dryness. The freshness gives the wine liveliness and ensures its longevity. It evokes aromatic and balsamic herbs in the aftertaste.
Certainly a wine for rich and unctuous dishes based on meats, game, and typical winter mountain cuisine. It also pairs well with aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
This opens with aromas suggesting blackberry, blue flower and an earthy whiff of tilled soil. On the soft, juicy palate, notes of mint and star anise accent a core of ripe black raspberry.
Other Vintages
2016- Vinous
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.
A winemaking renaissance is underfoot in Campania as more and more small, artisan and family-run wineries redefine their style with vineyard improvements and cellar upgrades. The region boasts a cool Mediterranean climate with extreme coastal, as well as high elevation mountain terroirs. It is cooler than one might expect in Campania; the region usually sees some of the last harvest dates in Italy.
Just south of Mount Vesuvio, the volcanic and sandy soils create aromatic and fresh reds based on Piedirosso and whites, made from Coda di Volpe and Falanghina. Both reds and whites go by the name, Lacryma Christi, meaning the "tears of Christ." South of Mount Vesuvio, along the Amalfi Coast, the white varieties of Falanghina and Biancolella make fresh, flirty, mineral-driven whites, and the red Piedirosso and Sciasinoso vines, which cling to steeply terraced coastlines, make snappy and ripe red wines.
Farther inland, as hills become mountains, the limestone soil of Irpinia supports the whites Fiano di Avellino, Falanghina and Greco di Tufo as well as the most-respected red of the south, Aglianico. Here the best and most age-worthy examples come from Taurasi.
Farther north and inland near the city of Benevento, the Taburno region also produces Aglianico of note—called Aglianico del Taburno—on alluvial soils. While not boasting the same heft as Taurasi, these are also reliable components of any cellar.