Aglianico and Amphora - Wine & Spirits Magazine

Wine of the Week

Aglianico and Amphora

by Stephanie Johnson • June 28, 2021

Aglianico ripening in Elena Fucci’s Basilicata vineyards.
Photo by Tiberio Fucci

In the 1960s, Generoso Fucci bought a choice vineyard in Contrada Solagna del Titolo, at an altitude of 2,100 feet on the slope of Vulture, Basilicata’s extinct volcano. The family sold its fruit to local producers and were considering a sale of the vineyard in 2000 when Generoso’s granddaughter, Elena, announced her intention to study enology. The Elena Fucci label was born that year, and by 2004 Elena had taken over winemaking. She began with just one wine, Titolo, which she ages in French oak barriques, and in the 2017 vintage Fucci has added Titolo by Amphora. She selected the oldest vines’ grapes from the 14.8-acre Titolo vineyard and fermented the berries whole in an untreated 700-liter terracotta amphora. After pressing, the wine aged in the same amphora for 18 months. While Fucci’s aglianico typically shows floral aromas and fresh fruit flavors, amphora aging seems to have enhanced these characteristics; the wine exudes scents of violet and lavender, and the purple fruit tones feel nakedly pure and vibrant, the juicy blackberry flavors riding on bristly black tannins layered with cool graphite notes. This is an exciting expression of aglianico in 2017 and a wine to follow in the coming vintages.

Enotec, Denver, CO

94

Elena Fucci 2017 Aglianico del Vulture Titolo by Amphora

$87

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Stephanie Johnson

is the Italian wine editor at Wine & Spirits magazine.

This story appears in the print issue of June 2021.
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TAGS Aglianico Amphorae Basilicata W&S June 2021

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