The 2011 Aglianico del Vulture Basilisco is from the hottest vintage among the three wines (2009, 2010 and 2011) I tasted in this mini-vertical. In many ways, this is the most immediate and successful of the three wines thanks to the fact that the ripe fruit adds softness and fleshiness to counter the natural astringency of the Aglianico grape. Generous spice, tobacco and blackberry fruit are woven together with a thick and penetrating texture. Sweet tobacco appears on the close and signals that this wine is only at the beginning of a long evolution.