La Quercia Aglianico 2022

To hear Antonio Lamona speak, you’d think he was talking about Brunello, or Barolo, Bolgheri, or maybe even Pauillac, France. So passionate is his talk about vineyards, land and wine! But shockingly, he’s not talking about any of these ultra-famous places. He’s speaking about his home – Puglia, a province on the backside of the Italian boot, across the Apennine Mountains from Rome.

 

Here is a region where, within the span of 30 miles, you can go from beachfront to Alpine hikes, hitting gigantic chalk cliffs, World Heritage Sites, and nature preserves all in between. Around 3,000 years ago, Greeks noted Puglia’s glorious nature and settled it, planting grape vines. By and large, Puglia's quiet way of life has remained the same ever since.

 

Antonio was born into a winemaking family in Puglia. But winemaking in Abruzzo was simple – it was part of life and agriculture and didn’t represent much more than a simple foodstuff. Antonio traveled just a bit as a young man and, on an internship in Champagne, the wine bug bit him. “If Champagne can make wine this good, why not Puglia?” he asked himself. Returning home, Antonio married another talented young winemaker, and the couple set about reinventing Aglianico.

 

In the Mezzogiorno of Italy there has always been claim that the grape Aglianico should be treated as one of the greatest wines of Italy, on par with Barolo and Brunello. A revolution had begun. What Antonio has created is a classic, gorgeous, and profound Italian red wine:

 

Loads of black fruit, violets, blueberry and black cherry provide the base fruit elements of the wines.  But with nearly a decade in the bottle, a savory element of truffles, cigar box, cherry tobacco topped of with lavender and cloves develops in the glass.  The finish offers rich and somewhat rustic tannins, which make it the perfect companion for winter’s rich beef and wild boar stews.