The 2004 Caparone Aglianico is Terrific

Calling Dr. Debs and her fans! For $14 to $18 the 2004 Caparone Aglianico from Paso Robles is a hell of a wine, muscular and pretty like a gymnast. The aromas are exciting and intense: leather and violets for days, a beautiful Northern Rhône-like perfume. The wine shows excellent balance on the palate, with muscular and masculine tannins, robust and true acidity, good minerality, and exactly ripe black fruit — some fleshy plum, some sweet berry. There's even some cool mint here, which makes me suspect that cabernet sauvignon plays a bit part. Overall, this Caparone Aglianico shows complete presence from the front of the palate to the back. And it went well with the lamb kefta I brought home from Sultan's.

Did I mention that this clocks in at a mere 13.2%? Yep, even in Paso Robles a winemaker can produce powerful, complete wines at relatively low alcohol levels, if s/he is intelligent, wise, and blessed with good terroir and harvest conditions.

Now, this wine ain't profound. It ain't even complex. It also lost just a bit of steam by night two, so I'm not sure that you should keep this around longer than 3 to 5 years. But this wine does have a lot of unconfected character, and for that I have a smile on my face.