Here is a little masterpiece from my favorite underdog Italian region, Basilicata. The 2008 Aglianico del Vulture Riserva Gudarrà is an ambitious achievement and a wine that delivers long lasting satisfaction. The bouquet shows a high level of harmony and inner elegance with dark fruit and spice backed by mineral, ash and tobacco. Those descriptors don't even do justice to the depth of this wine. There are spicy oak influences, but they are cleanly wrapped within the fleshiness of the wine. The persistence is long and silky. The wine ages in botte grande for two years. Some 8,000 bottle are made.

The 2007 Aglianico del Vulture Riserva Gudarrà is a standout wine and one of the best expression of Aglianico from Basilicata I tasted this year. The wine opens to a dark, impenetrable appearance with determined aromas of dark fruit, tar and dark resin. In fact, there are tones of pine resin or the kind of wax finishing used on antique furniture. Other tertiary aromas include dark mineral, cola and licorice. It's appearance is back and dense and Riserva Guadarrà ends with firm structure and dusty tannins. Because of its austerity, this wine won't appeal to everyone, but it is impossible to forget.

Perhaps it is just a function of vintage, but I don’t find the 2005 Aglianico del Vulture Riserva Gudarra meaningfully better or more complex than the straight 2008 Gudarra. An opulent, full-bodied wine, the 2005 Riserva Gudarra offers up an enticing melange of black fruit, grilled herbs, leather, licorice and tobacco, all in an intense, full-bodied style that is impossible to resist. Still vibrant for an eight year-old wine, the 2005 has at least another decade of very fine drinking ahead of it. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2023. I rarely hear any buzz about Mario Bisceglia’s wines, which is suprising as these reds are loaded with real personality and class. Importer: A Leonardo Lo Cascio Selection, Winebow, Montvale, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620