2017 Elena Fucci Aglianico del Vulture Titolo

Elena Fucci is a young star of an appellation that is one of the last remaining frontiers of Italian winemaking. She is in Basilicata, a southern region wedged between Campania, Calabria and Puglia. The 16-acre family estate she has been running since 2000 is in the Aglianico del Vulture DOC, a traditional grape growing area surrounding Mount Vulture, an extinct volcano. Fucci’s grandfather purchased the vineyards in the 1960s, two generations of her family has grown up there. Like most vineyard owners in the region her family sold their grapes to big producers elsewhere keeping a small amount to make wine for the family. By the late 1990s the family was considering selling the property since it was assumed that Elena and her siblings would want careers away from Basilicata. But Elena convinced her parents to keep the vineyards and she earned a degree in viticulture and enology. The estate makes only one wine, called Titolo, which is 100% Aglianico. Gambero Rosso has awarded nearly every vintage of Titolo with the highest rating of 3 glasses. Wine Advocate has also rated all the Vintages in the low to mid-90s. Wine Advocate’s Italian wine reviewer wrote this: “I cannot exaggerate how impressed I am by her wines. Each one is a masterpiece in its own right and no wine scored below 90 points.”

Basilicata is in southern Italy, bordered by the regions of Puglia, Campania and Calabria. With 26,800 acres of vineyards, Basilicata is Italy’s 17th largest appellation. The region has one DOCG, Aglianico del Vulture Superiore, and four DOCs, Aglianico del Vulture, Matera, Terre dell’Alta Val d’Agri, and Grottino di Roccanova. The DOCG was created in 2010. Before that there was only one DOC, and that was for Aglianico del Vulture. Though red and white wines are made in Basilicata, the undisputed star is Aglicanico del Vulture, a powerhouse tannic red with high acidity and floral notes. Historically Aglianico grapes were shipped off to northern Italy and sometimes Bordeaux to give structure to weak local vintages. Though the name Aglianico del Vulture sounds odd to English speakers, Vulture is the name of an extinct volcano in the center of the appellation, and the volcanic soils of the local vineyards owe much of their richness to the volcano. Aglianico is grown in several southern regions and is the foundation of the Taurasi wine of neighboring Campania. But many wine writers consider Aglianico del Vulture to be superior to Aglianico from other regions, and Aglianico del Vulture is now one of Italy’s new generation collectible wines. The white grapes grown in Basilicata are Malvasia and Moscato. There is also a Basilicata IGT, or Indicazione Geographica Tipica. Gambero Rosso has called Basilicata “one of Italy’s final frontiers…The commercial success of these wines, both in Italy and abroad, confirms the state of grace achieved for (Basilicata) labels.”