95 points Vinous Media
Drinking window: 2029 - 2044
The 2020 Aglianico Poliphemo Viti Vecchie R20 is highly expressive, with a gorgeous nose of autumnal spices, licorice, cedar box and hints of dried orange peels. Tantalizing acidity offsets textures of pure silk and crisp wild berry fruits. With notable energy and concentration, the 2020 leaves a staining of primary concentration and edgy tannins that tug at the cheeks. Luigi Tecce has captured the ripeness and energy of the vintage in a beautifully balanced framework.

I walked into Luigi Tecce’s winery for the first time and found not just the new releases but an entire back catalog stretching to nearly his first vintage, 2004. Tecce's wines have impressed me for more than five years, repeatedly outclassing some of Taurasi's biggest names. There's a liveliness and soulfulness to this portfolio. The wines are electric and stimulating yet poised and structured, and they mature beautifully. Today's wines are no longer released under the Taurasi DOCG as Tecce feels the DOCG does not align with his principles, citing mass production and industrial farming. Tecce now labels the wines simply as Aglianico. That's a loss for the DOCG, but not for Tecce, as his cult following snatches up bottles regardless. Readers would do well to seek these wines out.

Our Tasting Note: These are towering red wines of structure, depth and incredible complexity.  The Poliphemo, however, is a different animal than the Puro Sangue with brighter red to dark red fruits, a clear line of salinity, with grilled garden herbs, crushed roses, and an intense crushed stone minerality (limestone).  The pronounced nose on the Poliphemo shows bright red to dark red fruits of bing cherry, raspberry, and currants, with a clear streak of mineral-saline backbone, the savory is here too, but less intense, iron, blood orange, and black tea, with cedar and tobacco.  The palate is full bodied, med+acidity, med+ to high youthful grain tannins, the flavor intensity here too is dimensional and less tightly layered.  The density is not as turned up as the Puro Sangue, just a notch less.  The finish here is also epically long and structured, but prettier, more acidity, more brightness, but still undoubtedly a chiseled wine. Drink now with 2-3 or MORE hours decanted.  Otherwise put it in the cellar and forget about it for 5 more years, at the least!

Tecce's Masterpiece
The Poliphemo Riserva bottling is Luigi Tecce’s most archaic expression of a Taurasi, from centenarian vines (really vine-trees!). It is not only one of the great wines of Taurasi, but one of the great wines of Italy. Italian wine lovers know Mastrobernardino’s 1968 Taurasi bottling as one of Italy’s greatest wines. Tecce may take that honor in the future: fine wine critic John Gilliam has compared Tecce to famous Bruno Giacosa.* And, Italy’s Espresso wine guide, long considered the most searching and aesthetically rigorous of the Italian guides, rated Tecce’s 2012 Poliphemo 1st on their listing of wine to cellar, followed by Giuseppe Mascarello’s Barolo Monprivato and Roagna’s Barbaresco. ** Yet, for all the fanfare of late, Luigi Tecce leads a simple life, surrounded by his dogs, vines, and books. He is enamored with the study of ancient history, especially Greco-Roman and medieval monastic, thus his label with Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant. In Homer’s epic poem, the protagonist Odysseus, trapped in a cave, offers Poliphemo wine. Now a bit drunk, he pleads for help from his fellow giants, saying “Nobody” has hurt him, since Odysseus has given his name as ‘Nobody’ when asked by the giant. The 2018 is not about the fruit; this R18 is an essential, purely intellectual Taurasi. Exotically spicy, with aThere's a sweet-n-salty meatiness from the attack to the finish; a love bite. One of the most intellectual, relatively young vibes from Tecce I’ve tasted in a while. A very strong showing from Tecce here. World-class - still wild. - Importer