Today we were in the heart of Aglianico di Taurasi territory. We met with the Boccella brothers, Raffaele and Giovanni and retasted wines that we tried some months ago. The '07s are still in tank and botte and are coming along beautifully. Even though it was the hottest summer in this area in 20 years, the juice shows impressive balance. One aspect of the grape life at 2000 feet above sea level: it can reach 100 in the shade in the afternoon but will go down to 60-65 at night. These "escursioni termiche" of course bring out vivid aromas and zesty flavors while promoting the all-important acidity that keeps the wine from flabbiness. Boccella's wines are powerful, rich and deep examples of a noble grape, but not at the expense of balance, even refinement.
The wines have been favorably reviewed in Italy, most notably by the knowledgeable writer for Naples' "Il Mattino," Luciano Pignataro (see my blogroll for the link). Luciano is a champion of the best food and wine from southern Italy, and a discerning one. And unlike so many of his ilk in Italy, the word on the street is that he's got "mani pulite" (clean hands).
This thumb dance is getting sort of tiring. And I'm using Typepad's email-your-post feature. It'll be interesting to see how this comes out.
A presto, kids.
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