I’m getting ready for a trip to Campania in Southern Italy.  Aglianico is one of the main grape varieties grown there and I wanted to try some varietal Aglianico’s before my trip.  So, I called up a few of my wine friends and put together a blind tasting of Aglianico wines.  I would say that half of my friends were like, “cool“ and the other half were asking me how to spell it.  “Look it up,” I said!

On the night of the blind tasting, we had quite the selection of Aglianico wines.  We had examples from Southern Italy, Temecula, and Paso Robles. While the wines were decanting, I gave a brief history of the wine and explained some flavor profiles they could expect. Once the wines were ready, we began the tasting, going through each wine one by one and assessing them on a standard rubric. Each wine was evaluated by appearance, aroma, body, taste, and finish.  The wine was then scored from 1-5.  One, being the least desirable and five being the most.  I was sure to leave enough of each wine so that we could revisit them afterward, while I counted up the scores.

When I selected Aglianico for the blind tasting, I didn’t really know much about it besides it being one of my favorites on the wine list at work.  After some basic research on the grape variety was surprised at just how old it is!  The Ancient Greeks introduced it to the Etruscan tribes of Southern Italy just after the end of the Dark Ages (the period from which we have no written history).  Aglianico is a full-bodied black grape that is mainly grown in the Campania and Basilicata regions of Southern Italy.  When breathing in the wine and tasting it, you might pick up hints of white pepper, black cherry, black plum, leather, cocoa, cigar box, tobacco, earthiness, and even tar.  In Ancient times the Etruscans and Romans would add herbs and spices to the wine to add flavor. 

Once my friends had finished tasting the wines and made their revisits for final judgement, I added up the totals on the score sheets and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.  Yes!!! I made the top 3!  The top three wines were Epicuro, Wiens, and Donnachiara. 

In first place was the 2021 Epicuro wine from the Puglia region in Italy.  The iron–rich soil there is best known for the production of olive oil.  However, they do produce some varietals, such as Aglianico, Sangiovese, and Primitivo. 

In second place was the 2019 Wiens from the Temecula Valley in Southern California.  Temecula isn’t really known for a specific varietal, but its climate is perfect for many different grapes.

Last but not least, the 2018 Donnachiara Taurasi from theMontefalcione village in the Campania region. The village of Montefalcione dates back to the Etruscan era and is located on the slopes of the Montevergine and Chiusano Mountains. 

In the past two blind tastings that I have hosted, it has been the lowest cost wine that has won.  I can’t explain this.  Most of my friends either work in the industry or drink more wine than most.  I still think that the 2019 Wiens Aglianico was the best!