Quintodecimo Jaune d'Arles Greco di Tufo 2025
Quintodecimo Jaune d'Arles Greco di Tufo 2025
(92-94) pts Vinous
Drinking Window 2027 - 2034
The 2025 Giallo d'Arles opens with a nuanced, sweetly scented array of chamomile, split pine and green melon. This is supple and pliant, with a burst of crunchy minerality up front to balance notes of green apple and mint. It shows its potential through the exceptionally long finish, where lime tones and stone meet a gentle tannic grip. The 2025 is a little hard to read today, but its balance is otherworldly.
- By Eric Guido on August 2026
The 2021 Taurasis from Quintodecimo are glorious. The vintage’s combination of ripe fruit and structure plays directly into Luigi Moio’s polished, Bordeaux-influenced approach, yielding wines of both power and grace. The 2020 Riserva Grand Cru Luigi Moio is fleshier and more fruit-driven, with sweeter tannins, but it retains excellent balance. Quintodecimo did not produce Taurasi from the difficult 2023 season. Instead, all of the estate’s Aglianico was directed into Terra d’Eclano. The resulting wine lacks the power of Taurasi but rises well above the usual expectations for this bottling. The 2025 whites are also particularly balanced, with excellent acidity. It appears to have been an unusually even growing season, although the reds will provide a fuller picture of the vintage.
Grape: Greco di Tufo 100%
Year of vineyard planting: 2001
Altitude: 450 meters
Exposure: Southwest
Soil: Clayey-calcareous
Vineyard: Production area Tufo (Giallo d’Arles vineyard, district of Santa Lucia). Planted 2001.
Viticulture: Training system horizontal vertical trellis with Guyot training system. Yield 1.2 kg/vine. Harvest period Second ten days of October. Manually picked in 15 kg boxes.
Winemaking: After a long pressing of the whole grapes, the free-run must, rigorously protected from oxygen, is separated from the pressed must and clarified by natural settling. The fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks (70%) and in new oak barrels (30%).
Aging: The wines are aged for 8 months on fine lees, periodically resuspended.
Terroir
“Giallo d’Arles” comes from select parcels in Tufo, at the heart of the Greco di Tufo DOCG, where Greco reaches its pinnacle of structure and minerality. The vineyards sit between 450–500 meters above sea level, benefiting from significant day–night temperature variation that locks in acidity and aromatic complexity. The soils are a mix of calcareous clay and compacted volcanic ash interlaced with sulfur-rich mineral deposits—an ancient geological fingerprint that imparts the wine’s hallmark flinty, smoky character. The exposure is primarily south-facing, ensuring optimal ripening while maintaining the taut, linear style typical of the region.
Vinification
Grapes are hand-harvested in early to mid-October, when phenolic ripeness and acidity are in perfect balance. After gentle pressing, the juice undergoes cold settling before fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel to preserve aromatic precision. A small proportion is fermented in large French oak barrels to add depth and texture without overshadowing varietal character. The wine ages on its fine lees for several months, with bâtonnage to enhance mouthfeel and longevity. Bottling takes place in the spring following harvest to capture freshness and minerality.
Tasting Notes
The 2025 vintage offers a vibrant, beautifully balanced expression of Greco di Tufo. In the glass, it radiates a brilliant, golden straw hue—evocative of the intense "Jaune d’Arles" yellow pigment favored by Van Gogh, which inspires its name.
The bouquet is highly aromatic, opening with crisp white peach, green pear, and bruised yellow apple, seamlessly layered with notes of white blossoms, wild thyme, and a striking, flinty mineral undertone. On the palate, the wine is deeply textural and energetic, driving a core of juicy stone fruit and sun-ripened citrus across a spine of electric acidity and a sharp, saline-infused minerality. The finish is remarkably persistent and precise, lingering with sophisticated notes of toasted almond, light honeycomb, and crushed sea shells.
Serving & Pairing
Serve at 10–12 °C. This Greco is an exceptional match for richer seafood preparations such as lobster with saffron butter, roasted turbot, or tuna tartare. It also pairs beautifully with white meats, aged pecorino, or porcini mushroom risotto. Its structure and minerality give it excellent aging potential—five to seven years will bring out deeper nutty and honeyed nuances.
