Re Manfredi Aglianico Delle Volture Serpara 2007 750ml

Winery: Re Manfredi

Varietal: Aglianico

The Aglianico grape varietal has been grown in the Campania region for thousands of years, and is believed to have come from ancient Greece, where it was an important varietal for the production of fine traditional Grecian wines. It became enormously popular in Italy, where it thrived beneath the hot sun, and was a key varietal for the finest Roman wines, prized for its thick black skin and high acidity. Because of their thick skins, Aglianico grapes have a high tannin content. In young wines, this can prove to be a little challenging, but with a bit of aging, the tannins mellow and round to produce beautiful wines of excellent balance. Because Aglianico grapes grow most successfully in hot and dry climates, they've had plenty of success in the New World over the past few decades, where they are often used for blending.

Country: Italy

Italy is recognised as being one of the finest wine producing countries in the world, and it isn't difficult to see why. With a vast amount of land across the country used primarily for vineyard cultivation and wine production, each region of Italy manages to produce a wide range of excellent quality wines, each representative of the region it is produced in. Any lover of Italian wines will be able to tell you of the variety the country produces, from the deliciously astringent and alpine-fresh wines of the northern borders, to the deliciously jammy and fruit-forward wines of the south and the Italian islands. Regions such as Barolo are frequently compared with Bordeaux and Burgundy in France, as their oak aged red wines have all the complexity and earthy, spicy excellence of some of the finest wines in the world, and the sparkling wines of Asti and elsewhere in Italy can easily challenge and often exceed the high standards put forward by Champagne. Thanks to excellent terrain and climatic conditions, Italy has long since proven itself a major player in the world of wines, and long may this dedication to quality and excellence continue.