D'Angelo

D'Angelo is a historical family estate in the heart of the major appellation of Italy's deep Southern region of Basilicata. Producing wine on the slopes of Mount Vulture, an acidic Volcano (now extinct) since the 1930s and concentrating on the 'Aglianico' varietal, Southern Italy's king of red grapes. D'Angelo practices biological farming, certified by Sidel SPA.

Displaying many parallels with Nebbiolo (structure, complexity, earthiness, aging potential, high acidity, and tannins...) AGLIANICO DEL VULTURE (recently turned DOCG) is often called the "Barolo of the South".

The winery concentrates on various single-vineyard expressions of the Aglianico grape and possesses some of the oldest and most important CRU vineyards on the volcano, benefitting from impeccable exposure and high elevation, as well as mineral-rich volcanic soils. Their entry-level wine is a blend of the fruit left over from the sorting table that makes the estate's single vineyard bottlings and has been hailed as one of the best quality-price Aglianico's available.

Today, D'Angelo counts around 40 hectares of vines in total and possesses 2 wineries. One is the vinification center and the other is where the wines are aged. Rocco D'Angelo is head of operations, striving to continue his grandfather's legacy of biological agriculture and traditional winemaking, using only native yeasts, large neutral oak barrels, and minimum intervention.

The secret to D'Angelo's complexity and character is their higher elevation, which allows for heavy diurnal temperature variations whilst maintaining a strong sun typical of Southern Italy. This concentrates aromas and boosts the intensity of the wines, as well as allowing for a strong acidic backbone, whilst allowing for the ripeness to proceed undisturbed.

Of no lesser importance is the varietal's ancient makeup (Aglianico), having been brought into Southern Italy by the ancient Greeks and possessing phenomenal characteristics of tannin, acidity, and aromatic complexity. It is not unusual to find Middle Eastern spices, wild fennel, sun-dried tomatoes, and Indian rose mixed with the black fruit, aromatic herbs, and ashy volcanic notes on the nose.