Good Company Aglianico, Kirk-Landry, Paso Robles, 2017

“You Can Do Anything, Except Win”

This is the wine that was the genesis of Stereophonic. Our family is predisposed to love Aglianico - relatives even own a winery in Taurasi - but to us, the grape's magic lies in its recognizability as a wine of Campanian antiquity. The plantings of Aglianico in Paso Robles were America's first in 1988, but total plantings still number less than 100 acres. We leapt at the opportunity to snag a ton of fruit from the Kirk Landry Vineyard and for two important reasons, that impulsive decision is looking very savvy in hindsight: first, the quality of the wine is surprisingly high, far exceeding our hopes and expectations. Second, the vineyard is struggling with disease and we were unable to secure another crop.

Formidably fruited and still ringed by a chainmail of chunky tannins, the Aglianico shows a red, spicy core of fruit in the midst of all that dark color and intensity. We have high hopes for the next decade of life for this wine.

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