Empson & Co. SpA • Marketing Communications • www.empson.com • Via Mosè Bianchi, 41 • 20149 Milano, Italy
V I LLA MA TI LD E TA U R A SI
TTA
AU
UR
RA
ASSII is the name of a
town in the province of
Avellino, scenically located at
1,305 to 1,519 feet (398-463
meters above sea level) in a hilly
area of Campania that – strange
as it may seem! – recalls the
Langhe of Piedmont in many
respects: climate, altitude, soil
composition. True enough, it is
home to a magnificent,
structured, long-living red, also
called T
TA
AU
UR
RA
ASSII, oftentimes
defined as “the Barolo of
southern Italy”.
MAP OF CAMPANIA
As of March 11th, 1993, Taurasi is a
DOCG. However, the story of the wine
and its grape, Aglianico, goes back
much, much further, rooted as it is in the
region’s distant past: in the eighth and
seventh century B.C.E., ancient Greek
settlers introduced grape growing in the
area, and in 181-180 B.C.E., the
Romans, in turn, colonized what they
called Ager Taurasinus with one of the
populations they had conquered, the
Ligurian-Apuanians… This warrior
race of Celtic descent took over the
Locations of the
cultivation of the “Greek” vine
vineyards for Villa
(Hellenicus, hence Aglianico) – the
Matilde Taurasi:
complexities of ethnicity ultimately
districts of Lapio
resolved in the soil of “Taurasia”! Livy
and Montemarano.
celebrated these “marvellous vineyards”
in his history of Rome, and parcels of
DETAILED MAP OF THE TAURASI APPELLATION this gorgeous terroir were awarded to
Roman veterans of the Battle of Philippi (which famously figures in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and, more
recently, in the HBO television series, Rome), in 42 B.C.E… Need we wonder at the layered amplitude of
TTA
AU
UR
RA
ASSII, when we bear in mind that each nuance and layer comes to us from a melting pot of
civilizations, centuries of history, and the noblest of ancient grapes?
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Empson & Co. SpA • Marketing Communications • www.empson.com • Via Mosè Bianchi, 41 • 20149 Milano, Italy
THE FACTS ON THE TAURASI OF VILLA MATILDE
VILLA MATILDE PROPERTY: TENUTE DI ALTAVILLA (in the
province of Avellino)
APPELLATION:
TAURASI DOCG
VARIETY: 100%
Aglianico
LOCATION OF
VINEYARDS: Within the
districts of Lapio and
Montemarano (see map of the appellation, page 1)
Bottle size: 750 ml.
First vintage released: 2004
Soil type: Tuffaceous, with a good percentage of clay
Altitude: 500-600 meters (1,640-1,968 feet) above sea level
Time of harvest: October 21st- 31st
Density: 3,000 vines per hectare (1,214 per acre)
Training system: Guyot
Yield: Approx. 3,000 liters per hectare (1,214 per acre)
Vinification: De-stalking, soft-pressing, cold maceration before
fermentation followed by fermentation on the skins for over 20 days at
26° Celsius (78.8° Fahrenheit), with numerous pumpovers and
délestages. Finally, malolactic fermentation in traditional oak barrels.
Ageing: 18 months in 35-hectoliter oak barrels, followed by a further
12 months’ bottle age
TASTING NOTES:
● Intense ruby red with purple reflections in youth, acquires garnet and
orange hues with age.
● Bouquet is rich and complex, with notes of licorice, brushwood, berry
fruit and violets.
● Austere and elegant, with lush structure and sweet, well balanced
tannins.
Best served at: 16-18° C (60.8-64.4° F)
Cellar life: 15 years
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