Aglianico del Vulture Titolo 2008 Elena Fucci

Professionelle Bewertungen

Robert Parker (95)

The 2008 Aglianico del Vulture Titolo represents what many consider to be one of the best vintages on the Vulture volcano. In fact, this wine still boasts its youthfulness and shows few signs of age or slowing down. The bouquet is timid and closed initially. Like the spectacular 2004 vintage, you need to give it the times it needs to fully open. Dark fruit, spice, leather, balsam herb and crushed mineral rise to attention. The mouthfeel is extremely elegant and long with a bright mineral personality that renders a feeling of extreme sharpness and focus. This gorgeous wine promises a long aging evolution ahead. It has only just begun its journey.

One of my lingering curiosities concerns the longevity of Aglianico del Vulture. This is a topic I have started to research (with this vertical tasting) and hope to continue to explore in the future. This year, I had the great pleasure of tasting a complete vertical of Elena Fucci’s Aglianico del Vulture Titolo, from 2000 to 2012. Her inaugural vintage was 2000 and 2012 is her current release. She makes but one wine and this is it. Because all her effort goes into that single product with the same consistency and approach, year after year, Titolo is the perfect benchmark wine for Aglianico ageability. The winemaking process has remained the same: Titolo ages in new and used 225-liter French oak for 12 months and rests in bottle for an additional year before release. Only one-third of that oak is new. Her production has soared from 5,950 bottles in 2000 to 19,800 bottles in 2012. Titolo is the name of the area in the township of Barile where her six hectares of vineyards are located. Sixty- and 70-year-old vines are planted 600 meters above sea level, benefitting from excellent diurnal temperature shifts on volcanic soils. She opts for extremely low yields and usually picks the late-harvest Aglianico grape at the end of October or beginning of November for optimal tannin ripeness. I cannot exaggerate how impressed I am by her wines. Each one is a masterpiece in its own right and no wine scored below 90 points. In fact, my greatest delight came in tasting the so-called weaker vintages like 2002, 2003 and 2006 that were all inspiring in their own ways. Only two complete verticals of Titolo have ever been staged, and this is one of them.