Quintodecimo Grande Cuvée Luigi Moio 2021

96 points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, October 2022

I got a preview taste of the 2021 Irpinia Grande Cuvée Luigi Moio and will give this wine an official review next year. However, let me just say that we are in for something special indeed. A partially oak-fermented blend of Fiano, Greco and Falanghina—the "three graces" of the Quintodecimo portfolio—the wine is rich, silky and extremely fine in texture. There are aromas of peach cobbler, pastry cream, saffron, honey and a lifted tone of white flower or jasmine (that we also saw in the inaugural 2020 vintage). Dusty mineral tones settle at the back. The wine is delicious at this young stage and will surely only get better.

I'm not sure if Luigi Moio is a professor who wears a winemaker's hat or if he is a winemaker who wears a professor's hat. His vintage presentations lean into academia, his tasting room is run with the rigor of a lecture hall, and his vineyards are planted with criteria that only a mathematician or scholar could fully comprehend. I visited the Quintodecimo estate located in Mirabella Eclano early this summer. It was my first visit to an estate that I dearly hoped to visit for many years. You know you've arrived when, past a hill in the road, the landscape opens onto an expanse of neatly manicured vines perfectly topped and trimmed. It feels like you are looking at a painting on a museum wall. I am the first journalist to see Professor Luigi's Moio's latest contribution to viticulture. He planted a special spiral vineyard spaced exactly according to the Fibonacci sequence. The Golden Ratio is a symbol of nature's harmony. This sacred geometry resonates throughout the natural world in leaves, pine cones or a snail's shell. To the professor and his family, this vineyard is a pledge to harmony in grape growing, themes that are dear when facing a changing climate. At Quintodecimo, the winemaking philosophy is simple. The best vineyard sites are selected for each individual wine. Great care is taken to understand soils, exposures and microclimates. And nothing is taken for granted. Production focuses on three white wines and three reds. The whites are the Fiano di Avellino Exultet, the Greco di Tufo Giallo d'Arles and the Irpinia Falanghina Via del Campo. These wines draw their fruit from the villages of Lapio, Tufo and Mirabella Eclano. The reds are the Taurasi Riserva Vigna Quintodecimo, the Taurasi Riserva Grande Cerzito and the Irpinia Aglianico Terra d'Eclano. These expressions represent selections from inside the Quintodecimo estate and Mirabella Eclano. There is an exciting new addition. Starting with the 2020 vintage, Quintodecimo is launching its Irpinia Grande Cuvée Luigi Moio. This blend of partially oak-fermented Fiano, Greco and Falanghina seeks to raise the bar for white wines from southern Italy. Having been granted a sneak peek at the 2021 vintage, I am positive that it will be a game changer. - Monica Larner