D'Angelo Aglianico Canneto Basilicata 2016
Basilicata · Basilicata · Aglianico
About this wine
Aglianico is the unquestioned KING of Southern Italy – like nebbiolo in the north, or sangiovese in Italy’s center. 93 POINTS and less than $20 should catch your attention – and at 9 years young, this marquee bottling of a famed producer is primed to be a favorite! So you missed out on Spain…but is Italy really ever a consolation prize? I think NOT!!! Anywho…BAH-SIL-EE-CATA! Say it with a deep breath, from the pits of your soul with tons of gusto! BASILICATA! The volcano-born red of the slopes of the Monte Vulture is BACK – the 45-year-old vines, the intensely floral perfume, the depth and structure, brightness and POWER – just…HUZZAH!!! My goodness, I keep checking in on this 2016 bottling and I swear, it just gets better and better every single year!!!. Grab what you can, ‘cause this might well be the very, very last drop of this on the planet! 93 POINTS at our whiplash-inducing price? INCONCEIVABLE. If you’re an LB fan and had this before, well, you’re already off and grabbing MORE. Here's the problem. It’s all these sommeliers. YES! These guys with the pins and perfect pronunciation of all the French wine villages are scouring the planet for the best, just like we do, a case here, a case there, and, well…it adds up. We finally wrestled a bit more from the winery, and MAN, it is in…da…ZONE!! Aglianico is the grape, grown on the steep slopes of the volcano and the particularly rich and super fine volcanic sandy soils, with those fantastic 45-YEAR-OLD vines I mentioned earlier. While these wines can often be imposing BEASTS, D’Angelo’s Canneto is treated like royalty with 18 months in small French barrique barrels (they were actually the first to do this). It’s just singing, like Dolly Parton’s voice echoing across the Appalachians, or Pavarotti across the rolling hills of Tuscany…well…you get the idea, it’s clear, deep, bright, ringing, PURE, powerful and wildly harmonious!! Um, did you see that price? UNDER $20?! For a gorgeous 93 Point Italian stallion that will age for another decade easy?! We never have enough of this wicked-delish, rare-to-see bottling – redolent with its laser beams of cherries, and zippy citrus…in fact, imagine just grabbing a ripe blood orange and just squeezing it in your hand, and the PLUMS and fig jam….so GOOD! Bright, floral and pretty, while still broodingly dark and spicy – there’s even sandalwood notes, roasting coffee beans, just a crazy-cool mix of flowery freshness that is simply irresistible — especially at ONLY $18!!! PEOPLE!! While it lasts!! ** I had a bottle of this over the weekend with a Neopolitan-esque version of a meat lover’s pizza – coppa, spicy salami, prosciutto, finocchio – and man, it was epic! **
Wine details
- Producer
- D'Angelo
- Vintage
- 2016
- Region
- Basilicata
- Appellation
- Basilicata
- Varietal
- Aglianico
- Last Bottle price
- $18
- Retail price (estimate)
- $40
- CellarTracker score
- 88.8 (13 reviews)
- Critic score
- 93 — Tasting Panel