Though I love Campanian wines, I have had minimal experience with the intensely flavored, long lived Aglianico based wines of Taurasi. These wines are not
inexpensive, but if the quality of the wine I tried today is any indicator, they are still very reasonably priced. In the wide world of wine, we who sell the stuff are often as guilty as our customers (if not more so) of assigning arbitrary levels of value to certain regions or categories of wines. For example: "That's a great entry level Barolo, and a real value at $30." Or, "I would never pay $50 for a wine from Sicily." Fact is, a $30 Barolo at best will show a bit of typicity and that's about it - I'd rather buy a good bottle of langhe nebbiolo and arneis for my $30. And if a $50 bottle of wine from Sicily or southern Italy is every bit worth the price, then why hate? Appreciate.
And did I ever appreciate the bottle of 2000 Contrade di Taurasi I tasted today. Amongst a solid Italian line-up, including such gems as 2004 Bruno Rocca Barbaresco, it stood tall and was my favorite of the 25 strong row of Italians lined up on the tasting bar. The combination of truly intense black fruits, combined with decent acidity and a strong mineral backbone, made me taste a few times, and re-visit the wine for a palate refresher - with the same satisfaction and shaking of my head as the first taste.
