The 2013 Aglianico del Vulture Gesualdo da Venosa is a brawny and savory red wine with intensified aromas of smoke, toasted spice and scorched earth. Tobacco and bittersweet espresso sits heavy over the bouquet and allows just a sliver of fruit to emerge. This is a black and densely concentrated wine with sweet spice flavors that wrap thickly over the palate. This wine is very influenced by its oak aging and requires a year or two to find smoother integration. Gesualdo da Venosa sees ten months in oak.

The 2008 Aglianico del Vulture Gesualdo da Venosa is a thickly extracted and super concentrated red wine that opens to brooding tones of dark fruit marmalade and volcanic nuances of campfire ash and black mineral. This is a huge wine on all levels. It delivers enriched tannins and a real sense of power and heft. It's the proverbial wine that is almost too much of a good thing.