Luigi Tecce "Calipso" Rosato, Campania, Italy 2020

FROM PORTO VINO

THE WINE: VARIETIES: 100% Aglianico VINE AGE: 20 years old VINE TRAINING: cordone speronato HARVEST DATE: end of October YEASTS: native yeast with spontaneous fermentation FERMENTATION & ÉLEVAGE: hand-picked grapes are directly pressed. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks. Élevage for 12 months in stainless steel and 12 months in bottle SULPHUR: none added ALCOHOL: 14% PRODUCTION: 4,000 bottles

THE PRODUCER: A visit to Luigi Tecce can get you emotional. Luigi himself is a ball of them, and his Aglianico from Taurasi elicits them. His grandfather’s masseria (farmhouse) and vineyards are located in the Taurasi subzone known as Sud-Alta Valle (South-High Valley). It’s one of Taurasi’s high-altitude growing areas, having a soil that’s layered with sand, limestone and Vesuvius’ pumice; it’s also the dwelling of Luigi’s 80+ year old vine-trees. There’s no enologist and no agronomist, Luigi works in relative solitude. Maybe that’s why there’s such an affinity between him and the wines: exuberant and guarded, archaic and immediate, literary and literal; there’s something theatrical in their pleasure. The wines come from the tradition and grandeur of Mastroberardino’s Taurasi bottlings, but I feel Luigi’s one of a very limited group of Taurasi producers that are eclipsing the old master.