Cantina di Venosa 1999 Aglianico del Vulture “Carato Venusio” (Basilicata) – It’s not always clear with aglianico at which point in the wine’s maturity you have encountered it, because the structure and the “fruit,” which can seem to work at cross-purposes even at the best of times, mature in ways that are largely unlike other, more familiar, grapes. One must be prepared for a certain rusticity and no lack of scraping aggression, usually from the tannin…at which point, one will usually encounter one of those beautiful, fully-resolved, almost “elegant” (for aglianico) bottles that defies all expectations. Here, however, is something a little more standard. The fruit’s reddish, thinning, and drying, but still appealing if one is willing to embrace fruit-as-dust, while the tannin lingers and scrapes, and still-emerging acidity begins to add its own warbling treble descant. It’s appealing, but the appeal is predicated on a disposition to like wines of this type. Drink now? I guess. (3/09)