PV Tasting Notes
The 2006 wine is glorious, big on the nose and even bigger on the palate; it begins with aromas of violets, ripe sweet berry fruit, dark cherries, sweet tobacco leaf, volcanic soil and liquorice all in the roaring perfume. The Palate has massive intensity, all power with strong velvety tannins which caress the palate, lovely harmony here and it is just beginning to mellow out after two years in bottle, this is a wine with a great future, and should continue to evolve for several years yet and drink well for more than two decades.
The Elena Fucci vineyard is situated on the Titolo lava channel at 650 metres above sea level, the soil is volcanic lava mix known locally as Pozzolana, there are 14 hectares planted to vines, the harvest comes in during the last week of October with hand picking then destemmed and crushed in small batches, fermented in stainless steel, then transferred to 100% New French oak for malolactic fermentation, followed by 12 months aging in barrel, it is then bottled and aged a further year before release. Over the past six vintages Elena Fucci has taken the top award from one of the two most respected Italian wine guides which included 4 Tre Bicchieri awards.
Independent Review93 Points Robert Parkers -Wine Advocate April 2009
Elena Fucci makes one of the most fascinating wines of Basilicata. The 2006 Aglianico del Vulture Titolo is a dark, brooding wine loaded with violets, blackberry jam, new leather, earthiness, and cured meats. The wine possesses staggering richness and opulence, along with considerable varietal character and tons of harmony. The full-throttle style may not be for everyone, but this wine delivers the goods and then some. Readers looking to explore the heights of Aglianico as grown on the high-altitude, volcanic soils of the Vulture owe it to themselves to check out this reference-point wine. Another year or two will help the wine come together even more fully, but the 2006 Titolo is a great bottle even at this early stage. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2021.
The Barolo of the South!
Almost all of the Italian wines that are highly acclaimed by the main wine critics hail from north of Rome: wines like Amarone, Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti Classico, and the Super-Tuscans, such as Redigaffi and Sassicaia. But one of Italy's greatest red wines comes from a region in Southern Italy which is practically unknown to the outside world......Basilicata, located in the arch of the boot.
Elena Fucci has for the past 8 years been the leading producer of Aglianico del Vulture. Over the past seven vintages Elena Fucci has taken the top award from one of the two most respected Italian wine guides which includes 5 Tre Bicchieri awards. These prodigious wines offer exceptional buys for the quality in bottle and can be a serious wine to cellar for two decades or more, or you can just pull the cork a few hours earlier and enjoy with dinner. This may be difficult to believe, but I think she is the Angelo Gaja of the South, so you really should not miss out on these.
Soil Type; Volcanic lava mix.
Harvest; Last week of October, hand harvest in small crates.
The Aglianico is destemed and crushed in small batches and then fermented in stainless steel with a maximum temperature controlled to 28° - 30° degrees Celsius.
Malolactic fermentation takes place within 100% new French oak barriques and matured for 12 months.
The wine is fined in the bottle for an additional 10 months before being released to the market.
Oenologist; Elena Fucci
Elena Fucci has take more awards than any other producer in her region over the past eight vintages, she is a winemaker of the utmost talent, and is recognised as the absolute leader in producing wines from the Aglianico grape.