2010 Antinori Bocca di Luppo Minervino Murge
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Tasting notes
Changes from this vintage: all fruit from the more recently planted vines, and Aglianico has its own cellar. ‘A very spoilt wine’. Tronconic tanks. Punching down has to be gentle with these tannins so they have stopped pumping over. Maceration at slightly lower temperature than before. In the vineyard, more leaf removal, which allows more sun but also more air (to avoid humidity). Whole estate is organic. 40 ha of Aglianico. Selection of fruit from all 40 ha for this wine, hand selection of the berries in the cellar. Deep crimson. Peppery and floral, violets as well as dark fruits. Pepper and spice but more lifted and fresh. There’s a deep fruit sweetness on the palate – seems more Puglia as well as Aglianico. Incredibly perfumed on the nose, more red fruit but also finely peppery. More immediate fruit sweetness than on the 2006. A little minty/balsamic too. Tannins are powerful but more elegant. Still pretty chewy. Firm, chewy and thick but softer than the older wines would be at this age. Thick and velvety and denser on the palate than I thought from the nose. As the wine opened in the glass: spice and sweet tobacco. Already more approachable. You can feel the oak but the variety dominates. (JH)
Critic scores
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
A pure expression of Aglianico, the 2010 Castel del Monte Bocca di Lupo is one of the standout wines of Southern Italy. Tormaresca was among the first (maybe the first) to make top shelf Aglianico in Puglia and the 2010 vintage was especially favorable to late-ripening grape varieties like this. Fruit from the Bocca di Lupo vineyard matured slowly and steadily until the end of the growing season. Vito Palumbo and his winemaking team made some small but significant tweaks in the 2010 vintage, including greater quality control on the sorting table and more delicate destemming to lessen the varietal’s natural astringency. One-quarter of the wine sees new oak (French and Hungarian) for 20 months. The rest sees second- and third-year neutral barrel. The aromas are impressive with little touches of black licorice, tar and resin that add pretty contours to darkly extracted fruit. Bold cherry and toasted almond give depth and dimension. Tight tannins and bright acidity bode well for the wine’s aging potential.