2022 Quintodecimo Aglianico Terra d'Eclano Irpinia

Aglianico makes the most profound red wines of the Southern Italian mainland. The best of those come from the DOCG (appellation) of Taurasi in Irpinia, Campania. Breaking it down a little more: Irpinia is an historical and geographical region northeast of Naples, as well as a DOC (more general wine appellation). The Irpinia DOC is a broad area in Eastern Campania that permits a number of indigenous red and white grape varieties, including aglianico, and doesn’t have any specific aging requirements for most of the wines before they’re released onto the market. The Taurasi DOCG is a more restricted area within Irpinia that requires at least 85% aglianico and a minimum of three years of aging (of which at least one year must be in wooden barrels) before release.

The primary reason that we don’t hear more about the wines from Taurasi and Irpinia is that there just aren’t as many great producers there, compared with Barolo, Barbaresco, Montalcino, Chianti Classico, Mount Etna, etc. But the best of the Taurasini make great wines that are the peers of those from the more famous Italian wine regions. And there’s no disputing that Quintodecimo is top-flight, producing wines of supreme elegance, detail, and polish.

Terra d’Eclano is 100% aglianico from five vineyards on the Quintodecimo estate in Mirabella Eclano, 80 kilometers northeast of Naples. (All of the vineyards are within the Taurasi DOCG, but because the producer released the wine before three years of aging at the winery, it’s labeled Irpinia rather than Taurasi.) It fermented for about three weeks and then aged for 12 months in oak barrels, one-third of which were new.

Joel visited the Quintodecimo estate in April and has this to say about the wine and producer: “I honestly don’t think I have ever had more elegant aglianico than those made by Luigi Moio at Quintodecimo. Moio is a renowned enologist who studied in Burgundy, and he makes wines that have the graceful and seductive beauty of the excellent reds and whites of that region. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the Terra d’Eclano is how inviting it is for a wine that has all the character and intensity of great, classic Taurasi. It has a lovely, silky texture with berry, cherry, lavender, and mineral notes, finishing with a firm but very polished tannic structure. You can drink this wine now, but it also will age beautifully.”