"Luigi Tecce is clearly amongst the very finest, if not the finest, winemaker in Taurasi today and he will be a superstar in the very near future!" -John Gilman, View from the Cellar
There's a rugged nobility to the best Aglianicos. Luigi Tecce captures it with an unparalleled elegance. It's this stylistic signature that causes John Gilman to call Tecce "the Bruno Giacosa of the region."
Taurasi has been referred to as the "Barolo of the South" due to its ability to deliver long-aging, deeply complex and aristocratic wines. Mastroberadino's trio of 1968 Taurasi are held as some of the greatest Italian wines ever and have served as the ideal for Taurasi since their release.
The sad fact is that Taurasi has never been able to recapture the magic of the three '68s of Mastroberadino. Many of the producers who entered the scene in the 1990s and early 2000s practiced a confused modernism that didn't allow the features of Taurasi to shine. Recently, a cast of more traditionally focused producers have stepped forward. By nearly all accounts, Tecce is the king.
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We've been fans of Tecce for many years, but our allocation was just a couple of cases and the wine would disappear rapidly. I'm very happy to have landed a fair amount of the 2011 vintage.
Tecce follows old school methods. The wines are fermented in large chestnut barrels and then macerated for forty days before ending up in large botti. The old vines that go into the Poliphemo bottling are in prime high altitude locations. There's not time to cover all the details, but John Gilman's coverage in View from the Cellar #63 contains lots of great information on Tecce and Taurasi in general.
Tecce's 2011 Taurasi Poliphemo is a beautiful synthesis of power, finesse and focus. It has a fortress-like tannic structure and an insane complexity ranging from dried red fruits, to spice, tar, smoke, flowers and herbs. The clarity of expression here is phenomenal.
In a recent feature on Taurasi, John Gilman calls Taurasi "one of Italy’s best kept secrets" and goes on to say, "Taurasi seems to me to offer a similar value and opportunity for collectors analogous to Barolo and Barbaresco when I was first starting out in the wine trade back in the 1980s." There's no better place to see what the region has to offer than Tecce.
To order, email offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits