 Does Alianica really deserve the moniker the Barolo of the South? I'm gonna pit some Taurasi against an Alianica del Voltore. That's all coming up. Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to Exotic Wine Travel. I am your host, Matthew Horkey. Welcome back to the show where we help you drink adventurously so you can expand your palate and expand your mind. And we're going to be expanding palates and minds today with the red grape Alianico from Southern Italy. Alianico is considered to be one of Italy's greatest red grapes, but it doesn't really have the cachet or the brand name like San Giovese or Nebbiolo. We're going to hopefully change all that today. At its peak, Alianico is capable of producing rich, complex, age-worthy wines to rival those grapes. But you know what? There's a lot of really subpar examples and I think that's what gives the grape a bad name. Alianico is a red grape that flourishes in volcanic soils, probably most famous from Taurasi in Campania. And also Alianico del Voltore in Bicillicata. You'll also find it in Puglia. I think you might find a little bit in Calabria as well. You know the well-regarded wine writer Ian Diagra, the author of Wine Grapes of Italy even said, along with Nebbiolo and San Giovese, Alianico is generally believed to be one of Italy's three best wine grapes. But in my opinion, it is far more. Does it really deserve the moniker the Barola de la South? I don't know. I think it's because the grape has high tannins, high acidity, late ripening, just like Nebbiolo. But with bottle ages, the two wines can start to resemble each other. If you don't know what Barola was, you probably do if you're watching this show. One of the great wines of Italy, one of the most coveted wines of Italy in Northwest Italy, Piedmont made a hunt from the 100% Nebbiolo grape wines with big-time tannins, perfumy floral, just really beautiful wines. My story for Alianico is a little bit different. It's a grape I really tried to like. In theory, I really wanted to like it. I tasted lots of examples. I even judged a few flights and competitions, but nothing really spoke to me until. We were out in Singapore out at dinner and we ordered a 2002 Feudi di San Gregorio, Piano di Mante Verginin Tarasi Reserva. I know Italians and their wine names. Obviously 2002 had some age and I remember putting my nose in the glass and saying, oh wow, had some of these tari notes, had some of this tobacco. It really, to me, smelled a little bit like a Barolo. Just a few days after that, I did a big blind tasting of Barolo from Castiglione Folletto. And then just a few days after that blind tasting, I had another blind tasting where I smelled the wine, I tasted the wine, I could have swore it was Barolo. And then when it was revealed, it was a Mastro Berardino Rediti Tarasi with some age on it. And that's the first time I really got it. In wine, you have these aha moments. That's why you have to keep trying things. The two regions where the grape is probably most well known are Tarasi, like I said, in Campania and Alianico del Voltore in Basilicata. In Tarasi, the wines need to be at least 85% Alianico. You can blend other stuff into it. In Tarasi, you'll see wines that are just labeled Tarasi, which need to be aged for at least three years after the harvest, one in oak. And then you'll also see Tarasi Reserva, which needs to be aged for four years, two of those in oak. Alianico del Voltore. You'll see that DOC, those wines can be released one year after the harvest, unless they say Alianico del Voltore Superiore. That means they need to be aged for at least three years, one of those in oak. And then beyond that, you'll see Alianico del Voltore Superiore Reserva, which are aged five years, at least two in wood and two in the bottle before release. I know Italians and their Appalachian rules. Okay, let's taste a few wines. I am much more familiar with the wines of Tarasi than I am Alianico del Voltore. But let's start with the del Voltore first. On paper, it's an Appalachian I feel like I should love. It's way down south in Basilicata. They only focus just on Alianico. Really hard to get to value-driven wines, kind of under the radar Appalachian. It's a place that I feel like wine rangers really try to push up, and it's a place that I hope to go to once the world clears up. I have here the Denato d'Angelo, Alianico del Voltore 2017. This one Trey Pikieri at Gimberaroso recently, so good job by them. Alianico as a grape, you're going to get some darker fruit. Think of a dark plum, dark cherry. Sometimes when the wines are too overdone, they can become a little bit too jammy or pruny. This one's a little bit different. Alianico del Voltore is a category. The wines can be really good value for money. I've seen a lot of them under 20 US dollars widely available like this Denato d'Angelo. Just I think it's tremendous value for money for a wine that can age and develop in your cellar. In general, the wines from Alianico del Voltore that I've had are a little bit more softer and more finessed, but I've also had a lot of poor examples too. This one's a good example. This one you're going to get smoked meat, almost like beef jerky type flavors. Red plum sweet cedar, tobacco type notes. Bigger in body, but has acidity and some grippy tannin, but not tannin that's ripping my face off. So one that definitely needs meat, but I think this is tremendous wine, especially for the price. Denato d'Angelo also makes a lower level Alianico del Voltore called Calice. And I've seen that wine for under 15 bucks. I don't have it because I drink it all. I think that's tremendous value for money. It's an exceptional wine. It's something that I think I would buy by the case and throw it in my cellar. Let's move on to some Tarasi. And this is a brand new producer. I don't know very well, Baladia. This is the Tarasi 2012. This is the current release. So it's a wine that sees significant age. Now, like I said, I've had some beautiful aged Tarasi's that really taste and smell like burro, though, but when young, I don't feel like Tarasi gets it. It really needs bottle age to develop those notes. And for smell, this is a big wine. You can smell the wood. There is wood, but it's well integrated. This is a little bit more darker fruit, a little more plum. There's still some smoked meat type flavors, tobacco. Wow. I have to say, I tasted this wine a weeks ago, you know, with my Corvine and put it away. I'm tasting it right now and it tastes better than I remember actually. Really good wine. Full body, a lot of fruit. Oh, and the cannons hit really hard. This is a wine that you need a lot of braised meat, some steak, some kind of food or cheese or sparkling water, something to wash your mouth of. I'm surprisingly good wine. Beautiful label too. I had to get up. If you have, if you're drinking wines like this, you need some sparkling water to refresh your palate. Next up we have a producer Tenute Cavalier Pepe. This is the Opera Mia Tarasi 2014. Not a great vintage in Europe, but this wine is surprisingly good. Like I said, I tasted all these wines prior to this. That's why I wanted to quality control check so I show you the right stuff. This one is a Southern Italian Red Thru and Thru. I feel like it's a little bit more traditional tasting than the Bologna, which is a little bit more modern. Sweet cedar for days. Like I don't know about you. I used to shed cedar trees in my day when we would chop wood, all types of wood, and that smell really stuck with the chewing tobacco. This is even more of a red cherry, kind of black cherry type flavor. Really complex wine. More medium body, more under control than this wine. The tannins are still hitting hard. They're not as big as this wine. This is a wine that's just really, just has a delicious factor. I think a lot of fans of Central Italian Southern Italian Reds are really going to get off on this wine. Tenute Cavalier Pepe sent me a couple of the wines to taste tonight. I really enjoyed all of them a lot. They also sent me this. This is the Reserva. This is the La Ligia de Cavalier Tarasi. Now this is a bigger wine than the Upper Amia. It's significantly bigger. This one actually has some tari notes starting to develop. Tobacco again. I know I'm sounding repetitive. Mocha even. Really complex wine. Even a little bit of smoke. Full body rich. You know, sometimes I don't always agree with taking the top wine of the steak or sometimes they're just too concentrated, too overpowering, too much wood. But I definitely see a step up in this one. Both are outstanding wines. Really. I mean, this is a good showing. Thank goodness. This is a good showing of what Alianico can do. You know, I think the problem with Alianico, like I said, there's a lot of poor examples being made. And when you hear the moniker, the Barolo of the South, you expect it to taste like Barolo. And Alianico to me doesn't when it's young. However, as it starts to gain bottle age, as you start to put 10, 15 years on it, that's when you start to develop the tari notes. And since the acidity is still there, and since the tannins are pretty tight, I can really see why people say it's the Barolo of the South, even though that irks a lot of Southern Italians. They might want to say, you know what, Barolo is the Tarasi of the North. I think one place where Alianico de Voltore and Tarasi is a little bit different than Barolo for me at least, is Barolo has, when it's great, has these perfume and flower notes that make it just really a pretty wine. So I'd like to know, do you like Alianico? Do you have any favorite producers? Drop it in the comments below and I will see you at the next episode. 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