PERSON | A craftsman in the name of Taurasi: Michele Perillo has always been unaccustomed to the spotlight or social events. He feels more at ease in the vineyard, a few hectares of vineyards that he takes care of with attention and ancient wisdom. In 1999 he decided it was time to get involved: he no longer sold his grapes, he no longer made bulk wine but began to bottle. This is where the myth of Michele's Taurasi began, wines that today come out on the market only after at least ten years from the harvest. Currently, his two sons, Felice, Bachelor in Oenology, and Nicola, agronomist, are also helping him amidst the barrels and rows.
VINEYARD | Located on the southern limit of the Taurasi DOCG between the municipalities of Castelfranci (one hectare behind the cellar, four in Contrada Baiano) and Montemarano, where there are another five hectares. All the vines are very old: except for a couple of hectares of "younger" vineyards, ranging from 15 to 30 years old, the rest of the vineyard is occupied by plants still raised in the "Avellinese ray" style, planted by Michele's grandfather upon his return from World War I. The Quindicianni comes precisely from that hectare behind the cellar, where 90% of the vines are ungrafted: they grow on a very particular soil, different from all the other estate soils: in fact the first 20/30 centimetres are composed of sandy soil that immediately gives way to compact sandstone, practically bedrock.
WINE | The Quindicianni is not released in all vintages, but only in the best performing ones. Just like the 2005 (the vintage with which Taurasi also brought the first Tre Bicchieri to the Perillo winery, way back in 2011). The Quindicianni '05 is a wine of extreme depth already in the aromatic spectrum in which tobacco leaves pave the way for medicinal herbs and laurel, surrounded by spicy veins of black pepper and a distant memory of cassis and dried rose. The mouth is impressive for the energy it's still able to release within a thick sip but with perfectly extracted and still strong tannins. In the finish, the suggestions perceived by the nose return, amplified by the caress of a calibrated alcoholic warmth.
