Some stories don’t make noise. They grow in silence, away from the spotlight, and when they reach the finish line they do so naturally. Michele Perillo winery celebrates 25 vintages of Taurasi with a bottle that is much more than a celebratory edition: a 2006 Taurasi Riserva born from a hectare planted in 1920, 1,600 bottles in all. As Antonella Amodio tells us.
A story followed from the beginning
Let’s follow the winery Perillo from the very beginning, when in the early 2000s it presented its first vintage on the market – 1999 – in one of the first Irpinian previews dedicated to the appellation. It was striking even then. An authentic, deeply traditional, almost “peasant” style in the highest sense of the word, but backed by an obvious technical lucidity. No concessions, no shortcuts.
At that time a real winery was not yet there: a part of the family building was adapted for wine tasting and monitoring. Today, barrels and silos finally find space in a suitable structure, where the work of Felice and Nicola Perillo, winemaker and agronomist, Michele’s sons, continues with a vision that contributes to producing labels increasingly oriented toward olfactory cleanliness than in the past. The 2015 Taurasi Riserva is a concrete example of this change of pace, a phase in which the winery is playing more on finesse and will be released later.
We at DoctorWine have awarded several times the Taurasi Perillo’s and, in some vintages, even the Coda di Volpe, a vine rare to find in purity-at least in the past-and now slowly regaining the scene. On the white front, in addition to Fiano di Avellino, Greco di Tufo is also coming soon (probably as a Riserva), from a recently acquired vineyard with vines that are close to twenty years old. But we will talk about this at the appropriate time.
The 1920 vineyard: an Irpinian cru
>>>Taurasi Riserva 25 Vendemmie 2006 inevitably steals the show. The winery works vineyards located between 600 and nearly 800 meters above sea level, but here we are faced with something special: one hectare behind the house and winery in Castelfranci, steeply sloping, historic family property, inherited by Michele and Annamaria when they married.
The vines – planted in 1920 – are Aglianico clone “coda di cavallo,” recognizable by the elongated shape of the bunch, trained in “starseto,” an ancient Irpinian system that opens the shoots in a sunburst pattern, a legacy of an all-manual mountain viticulture (this form of training is also adopted in the other old estate plots). Since 2003, Taurasi has been born with the support of oenologist Carmine Valentino, now an outside consultant, but the vision has always remained consistent: respect for time, no rush, no compromise.
The Taurasi Riserva 25 Vendemmie Michele Perillo 2006
The 2006 vintage, judged at the time to be excellent in quality and characterized by lower productivity, saw the grapes harvested in mid-November. It was deliberately left aside to smooth out its austerity and bring out, over time, all the wonder of the Aglianico grape, often called “eternal” because of its marked propensity for aging.
The wine remained 18 years in silos on fine lees, then aged 24 months in second-passage oak barriques. Perillo’s “mountain” Taurasis take a while to make, but once on the market they are drinkable and one understands why: wines projected in time, in which the passage of years almost returns a photograph of their youth. They seem to remain stuck in the present, stainless; it is difficult to detect oxidative notes or obvious signs of maturity.
A celebratory wine, but not really
The 2006 vintage is framed by a different graphic design than the others and will be marketed in a single wooden box. A celebratory wine only in appearance, because in reality it tells a story of a family faithful to its values, with a coherent and rigorous vision, with an idea of Aglianico that starts from far away and that does not fear time, but uses it as an ally.
Taurasi Riserva 25 Vendemmie Michele Perillo 2006 Cantina Perillo
Score: 96/100
Price: € 150,00
100% Aglianico. 18 years in steel and 24 months in second-passage barrique. Garnet red, bright. Enveloping aromas of red fruit, balsamic, hints of spice and humus. Firm, saline palate, dense, integrated tannins complementing a body of exceptional depth.
Taurasi Riserva 2015 Cantina Perillo
Score: 95/100
Price: € 60,00
100% Aglianico. 24 months between 20 hl barrels and new and used barriques. Garnet with ruby hues, bright. Olfactory profile of red fruit, hints of citrus and notes of underbrush. Ample, fresh sip with a developing tannic set of tannins. An elegant wine out of the ordinary.
