Aglianico

Aglianico carries the VIVC prime name Aglianico, variety number 121. VIVC records Italy as its country or region of origin. Its parentage is unknown: both parent fields in its VIVC passport are blank, and no full pedigree is recorded.

• VIVC prime name: Aglianico; VIVC variety number 121; country of origin: Italy
• Parents: none recorded (parentage unknown)

Taurasi's production rules describe Aglianico as a very ancient variety, probably originating in Greece and introduced to Italy around the 7th to 6th century BC. There is no certainty about the origin of its name; one explanation is that it is a corruption of the word Ellenico, meaning Hellenic. Between the 13th and 15th centuries, all the slopes of Mount Vulture in Basilicata were planted with vines. Taurasi existed as a wine long before Mastroberardino, a firm that dates back to 1878, but in Decanter's account it was thanks to Mastroberardino that Taurasi gained an international reputation.

• Between the 13th and 15th centuries, all the slopes of Mount Vulture were planted with vines
• The Mastroberardino firm dates back to 1878

A number of denominations permit Aglianico, and three have raised it to DOCG status: Aglianico del Vulture Superiore on the slopes of Mount Vulture in Basilicata, Taurasi in the province of Avellino in Campania, and Aglianico del Taburno in the province of Benevento, also in Campania. The Taurasi DOCG takes in 17 communes, and its production rules place its Aglianico vineyards on the Irpinian hills between 400 and 700 metres. Its soils are clay, limestone and sand with occasional underlying volcanic rock, and swings between day and night temperatures help the grapes hold on to their acidity. In Basilicata, the Aglianico del Vulture vineyards lie on hillsides of mainly volcanic origin on the slopes of Mount Vulture, an extinct volcano, between 200 and 700 metres, over subsoils of volcanic tuff and sandstone tuff.

• Taurasi DOCG (Campania, province of Avellino): 17 communes on clay, limestone and sandy soils; DOCG since 1993
• Aglianico del Vulture DOC (Basilicata): hillside vineyards of mainly volcanic origin on the slopes of the extinct Mount Vulture, 200 to 700 metres; DOC since 1971
• Aglianico del Vulture Superiore DOCG (Basilicata): established in 2010 for wine already recognised as Aglianico del Vulture DOC, made from Aglianico del Vulture and/or Aglianico grapes
• Aglianico del Taburno DOCG (Campania, province of Benevento): raised from DOC to DOCG in 2011, named after the nearby Taburno mountain

Taurasi is intense ruby red, tending to garnet. Aglianico from Taurasi gives aromatic, deep-coloured, richly flavoured wines with red and dark cherry and plum fruit and spicy, even chocolatey notes. Full of tannin and acidity, Aglianico makes structured, dense wines that can be very powerful when young, and when things go well and with low intervention in the cellar, its wines take on more herbal characteristics with age. Style varies by zone: the wines of the Vulture are typically fresh and vibrant, and entirely different from those of Taurasi and Taburno.

Aglianico's long growing season, helped by significant swings between day and night temperatures, lets it reach phenolic ripeness. In Taurasi, newer vineyard practices include picking at phenolic rather than sugar ripeness, and more modern cellar practices include gentle extraction of tannins and barrel ageing aimed at reducing harshness and austerity. By the 1997 vintage, barriques were in use in Taurasi, alone or alongside large Slavonian oak botti. The mandatory ageing is substantial: Taurasi must age at least three years, at least one of them in wood, and Riserva at least four years, at least 18 months of them in wood, both counted from 1 December of the harvest year.

• Taurasi DOCG requires at least 85% Aglianico, with up to 15% of other non-aromatic red varieties suitable for the province of Avellino
• Aglianico is one of the last varieties to be harvested in Italy; in Taurasi the harvest usually comes in late October and in some cases runs into November
• Aglianico del Vulture DOC may be released from 1 September of the year after the harvest; the Superiore DOCG cannot be released before 1 November of the third year after the harvest, after at least 12 months in wood and 12 months in bottle
• Thick skins and high acidity make Aglianico's wines excellent candidates for long ageing

Mastroberardino dates back to 1878. In 1985 Nicolas Belfrage MW wrote: "The most important, indeed the only significant version of Taurasi is that of Mastroberardino." Paul Caputo wrote in Decanter in 2024 that its 1968 Taurasi Riserva "has achieved legendary status among collectors of Italian wine". Its Taurasi range includes the Radici Taurasi Riserva and the Stilèma Taurasi. In Basilicata, Paternoster's flagship wine is Don Anselmo, an Aglianico del Vulture Superiore.

• Mastroberardino 'Radici' Taurasi Riserva DOCG, from the Campanian firm founded in 1878
• Paternoster 'Don Anselmo' Aglianico del Vulture Superiore: the estate's flagship wine

Taurasi Riserva's concentration and structure of tannins and acidity demand time in bottle to develop finesse and complexity. In 2014 Ian D'Agata wrote of Mastroberardino's 1968 Taurasi Riserva: "This is still amazingly youthful, and a paragon of balance."

Primary sources: https://www.vivc.de/index.php?r=passport%2Fview&id=121 ; https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252F2%252F3%252FD.8ccd09a077f2ec35dc9b/P/BLOB%3AID%3D4625/E/7z?mode=download ; https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252Fa%252Fe%252FD.8495fb8195fb9f88e44b/P/BLOB%3AID%3D4625/E/7z?mode=download Reference sources: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/learn/grape-varieties/red/aglianico ; https://www.decanter.com/premium/taurasi-a-buyers-guide-495246/ ; https://www.decanter.com/premium/exploring-the-aglianico-triangle-541871/ ; https://www.decanter.com/learn/wine-legend-mastroberardino-taurasi-riserva-1968-299270/ Last verified 2026-10-19