AGLIANICO - The Barolo of the South

We were invited and had the opportunity to attend a dinner at VinSanto in Houston, that highlighted Aglianico wines from Donato D’Angelo in Italy.

Map of Italy - Donato D’Angelo is Pinned

Two wonderful Wines

Boy are we glad we accepted the invitation, these wines are stunning. It was our first time having the grape Aglianico, and it left an impression, a very good impression. This grape originates in Greece but has been in Italy for almost 2000 years. In Italy it is best known in Campania and Basilicata in the south. This is a thick skinned black grape. The younger Aglianico wines are know for savory flavors of leather, black fruit some white pepper a little cured meat. The aged Aglianico wines get more dried fig, earthy, and aged, worn leather like an old saddle. It’s one of the three grapes considered to be the best three wine grapes in Italy, the other two are Sangiovese and Nebbiolo. It’s hard to believe that being the huge Italian wine fan that I am, that I’ve never had this varietal. I think one of the reasons is it is not well known or distributed in the United States. Hopefully that’s about to change.

Orecchiette with Italian Sausage, Broccoli, Fried Bread Crumbs and Parmesan Reggiano

The food we enjoyed with the wines were prepared and served by VinSanto in Houston. Delicious food, that complimented the wines very well and vice versa.

The Group who enjoyed the wines and dinner

Rob and Erminia D’Angelo

The world knows Sangiovese and Nebbiolo, two of the greatest wine grapes from Italy, I can see why Aglianico is in the same tier as these two and completes the top three wine grapes in Italy. If you love exploring wines and haven’t had Aglianico, this is a wine you need to seek and try. You won’t be disappointed!

I think its only right to start with the story of this family. Donato is now 72 years old, he’s been in the wine industry for more than 50 years. He started Donato D’Angelo in 2001 with 20 hectares of vineyards. 80% of their vineyards produce Aglianico, with the remaining 20% for Cabernet Sauvignon and Fiano (a wonderful white wine). The family takes great pride in what they produce, quality above all. The winery is currently led by Donato and his wife Filomena. Their two daughters (Erminia and Emiliana) are being positioned to take over for the family.

Our host for the evening was Erminia D’Angelo, the daughter of Donato. She was a gracious host who told their story very well, explained the wines we would be trying and answered all our questions.

We tasted two wines from their portfolio, the Aglianico Del Velture Calice DOC. This wine is younger (2023) and their entry wine, it’s produced from younger vines, around 15-30 years old. The retail price for this wine would be between $20-30, great value.

The second wine we tried was Aglianico Del Velture DOC. This wine is made from older vines and it shows, there is more depth of flavors, complexity to the wine, it has a very long finish. When we nosed this wine for the first time, all we could say was WOW! The vintage on this wine was 2020, the age of the vines are between 40-50 years old. If you want to talk about a wine that punches up, this is it, retail for this wine would be $35-$40 in Texas. That’s Crazy!