2007 Aglianico, Mastroberardino, Campania, Italy (£14.49, Wine Direct of Hailsham tel. 0845 6033717; Quaff of East Sussex tel. 01273 820320; Wind Up Here of Norbiton tel. 02085496622). Golly, I am not familiar with any of the three stockists of this wine and I only tasted a half sip of this red during a frenzied Gambero Rosso event last Tuesday, but this wine was by far and away my pivotal red of the week. I adore Aglianico. OK, this is confessional time. I want to love this belligerent, angular, obtuse, obstreperous grape, but it never really gets it right. I now understand, by dint of this miraculous drop, that the grape is not to blame – its faux farmers and failed fermenters are. Mastroberardino is a mighty name in the south of Italy and they are past ‘masters’ with this and other eclectic Italian varieties. However not even this illustrious estate has cracked the code of this celestial variety until now. Dark, swarthy and malevolent and yet tamed, honed and genial in one mouthful, this precise wine is something that Aglianico has never been – complete. Campania is a culturally rich region of Italy and yet its wines are often rustic and imperfect. This brilliant red is nothing short of a work of art. You must taste it, because it will broaden your repertoire like no other red has ever done before.
