Ocone Apollo Aglianico 2016
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Aromatic and refined with plum and pepper notes. Dry, full-bodied and friendly with bright cherry and berry flavors and hints of pepper and herbs. While delicious now, the structure and balance make this an ideal wine for the cellar.
Pair with red sauces, grilled and roasted meats and strong cheeses.
Ocone ("Oh-kone-eh") is a small, family winery situated in the Campania region, outside of Naples, on the rocky foothills of Mount Taburno. Guiseppe Ocone founded the winery in 1910 and began bottling his own wines at a time when most Campania wineries simply sold in bulk to the north. In the 1960s, his son Luigi distinguished Ocone from other producers by focusing on the region’s near forgotten indigenous grapes such as Aglianico, Greco and Falanghina. Dedication to organic cultivation of these ancient varieties established Ocone as a world class estate. In 2017, Domenico Ocone sold the winery to Giorgio and Roberta Vergona, a local couple, who with their three children have restarted generational history at Ocone. Their goal is to continue the Ocone family’s legacy by producing wines in a fresh, clean style balanced by tradition. The Ocone wines are approachable, food friendly, and varietally true. They possess great depth of flavor without being excessive and are consistently balanced and structured with complexity and length.
Making its home in the mountainous southern Italy, Aglianico is a bold red variety that is late to ripen and often spends until November on the vine. It thrives in Campania as the exclusive variety in the age-worthy red wine called Taurasi. Aglianico also has great success in the volcanic soils of Basilicata where it makes the robust, Aglianico del Vulture. Somm Secret—The name “Aglianico” bears striking resemblance to Ellenico, the Italian word for "Greek," but no evidence shows it has Greek ancestry. However, it first appeared in Italy around an ancient Greek colony located in present-day Avellino, Campania.
A winemaking renaissance is underfoot in Campania as more and more small, artisan and family-run wineries redefine their style with vineyard improvements and cellar upgrades. The region boasts a cool Mediterranean climate with extreme coastal, as well as high elevation mountain terroirs. It is cooler than one might expect in Campania; the region usually sees some of the last harvest dates in Italy.
Just south of Mount Vesuvio, the volcanic and sandy soils create aromatic and fresh reds based on Piedirosso and whites, made from Coda di Volpe and Falanghina. Both reds and whites go by the name, Lacryma Christi, meaning the "tears of Christ." South of Mount Vesuvio, along the Amalfi Coast, the white varieties of Falanghina and Biancolella make fresh, flirty, mineral-driven whites, and the red Piedirosso and Sciasinoso vines, which cling to steeply terraced coastlines, make snappy and ripe red wines.
Farther inland, as hills become mountains, the limestone soil of Irpinia supports the whites Fiano di Avellino, Falanghina and Greco di Tufo as well as the most-respected red of the south, Aglianico. Here the best and most age-worthy examples come from Taurasi.
Farther north and inland near the city of Benevento, the Taburno region also produces Aglianico of note—called Aglianico del Taburno—on alluvial soils. While not boasting the same heft as Taurasi, these are also reliable components of any cellar.