Guastaferro Memini Irpinia Aglianico 2019

Guastaferro is located right in the heart of the commune of Taurasi. The grapes are farmed from seven and a half hectares of prime Aglianico vineyards that young Raffaele Guastaferro has had the good fortune to take over from his father. The first vintages under the Guastaferro name were in the early 2000s, prior to that the Guastaferro family sold fruit to big Taurasi wineries, such as Feudi di San Gregorio. The fruit from the vineyard Piano d’Angelo was sold to other winemakers before 2003 and was the source of Mastrobeardino's famed 1968 Taurasi Piano d’Angelo. Two and a half hectares consist of these massive, pre-phylloxera vines between 175 and 200 years of age. They survive in Contrada Piano d'Angelo because the soil contains loose volcanic ash and sand where the louse cannot live, allowing these own-rooted ancient vines to bypass the need for American rootstocks. These vines were planted using a very old technique of intertwining multiple shoots to form a massive 10-foot-tall pergola, looking more like a grove of trees than a vineyard. The incredible vine age adds a soft, pliant richness and complexity not often found in Aglianico based wines.

The remaining vineyards have been planted with cuttings from those old vines and are – so Guastaferro has all pre-phylloxera stock even though not all pre-phylloxera era. This fact is significant since the conversation of grape biotypes is extremely relevant when we talk of Italian wines. This Aglianico biotype is not only specific to the commune of Taurasi, but to the Guastaferro estate! They offer enormous depth of flavor and aging potential.