red grape · regional staple
Aglianico
Campania, Italy
Say it
ah·lyah·nee·koh
The 'gli' is the Italian palatal lateral /ʎ/; English speakers typically simplify to 'ly' as in 'million'; the 'g' is not pronounced separately
On the palate
black cherryblack plumvioletblack peppergraphiteleather
How you spot it blind: volcanic graphite minerality with simultaneous high acidity and very firm tannins
The story
First written down · 1520, southern Italy
A 2021 SNP-genotyping study (D'Onofrio et al., Frontiers in Plant Science) established Aglianico as a southwestern Italian founder variety ancestral to multiple other Italian cultivars, directly contradicting the traditional Greek-origin narrative embedded in its name.
Where it lives
Campania, Italy · Basilicata, Italy
Shows up as
still redTaurasi DOCGAglianico del Vulture DOCAglianico del Vulture Superiore DOCG