2003 Elena Fucci Aglianico del Vulture Titolo

Still an impressive wine, the 2003 Aglianico del Vulture Titolo is the weakest link in the exceptional collection of wines presented by Elena Fucci and her beautiful Basilicata. The Vulture generally sees heavy snow cover in the winter for abundant underground water reserves and very steep shifts between daytime and nighttime temperatures. Because the area is much cooler, this wine seems to have suffered less from the scorching heat that exhausted the rest of Italy in the summer of 2003. Having said that, this Titolo offers a slightly more evolved and oxidative style with dried fruit, plum, prunes, crème de cassis, tobacco and used leather. The mouthfeel benefits from warm thickness, alcoholic power and firm tannins. The 2003 vintage paints the Aglianico grape with thicker brush strokes and thicker, more simplistic lines. But it is definitely solid and delicious at its core. It should hold five years or more.