Wine of the week: two brutes tamed

Matthew Jules tastes a "downright delicious", Italian red and its more "entry-level" sibling.

Matthew Jukes
By Matthew Jukes
published

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2013 Teodosio, Aglianico del Vulture, Basilisco, Basilicata, Italy (£14.08, StrictlyWine.co.uk; £14.28, GreatWinesDirect.co.uk).

I often think of grape varieties as having character traits. Sauvignon blanc light-hearted; zinfandel boozy; pinot noir aloof; cabernet commanding; tempranillo dashing; nebbiolo noble; and so on. There is one grape that I have never written up to date in MoneyWeek in my 582 columns and this is because its character trait, until today, has been "brutal". Aglianico is usually a tannic, sour, hard, ungiving red grape, and on the numerous times that I have tried to pick a mellow, balanced, or even remotely drinkable one,I have failed.

Teodosio is different because it is downright delicious while retaining the hallmarks of this famous variety. Grown on the slopes of Mount Vulture in the baking hot instep of Italy's boot, the wild, cedar and tobacco notes are superb on the nose, but the palate is buoyant with juiciness and there is little tannin sticking out the end of this wine to dry out the palate.

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I heartily recommend this hearty wine and it is not too dear either. If you would like to trial this grape with an entry-level offering, then head for 2015 Messapi, Aglianico del Vulture (£11, Marks & Spencer) a few quid cheaper and a little more genial, too. Wow two brutes tamed on one page.

l Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (MatthewJukes.com).

Matthew Jukes
Matthew Jukes

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.  

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’.  He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner. 

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy.  His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.

 

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