On the volcanic slopes of the extinct Monte Vulture, high in Italy's poor, remote south, Aglianico makes one of the country's great reds — deep, mineral and firmly tannic, earning the nickname "the Barolo of the south". Late-ripening in the volcanic ash, it is all black cherry, tar, tobacco and ash, built to age for decades.
The Greeks likely brought the vine here in antiquity, and the wine has been made in near-obscurity ever since. Powerful yet fresh from the altitude and volcanic soil, Aglianico del Vulture is southern Italy's most ageworthy red — and still one of its best-kept secrets.