Galardi, Terra di Lavoro, Roccamonfina IGT 2018 - 75cl

Few wines from the Italian south carry the weight of expectation that Galardi's Terra di Lavoro does, and the 2018 wears it lightly. This is Campania at full stretch — dark, savoury, mineral, built on the bones of an extinct volcano rather than on charm alone.

The estate sits on the slopes of Roccamonfina, a long-dead volcano in the north of the region, where the soils are a jumble of ash and broken rock that keep yields painfully low. Riccardo Cotarella has consulted here since the wine's first vintage in 1994, and the reputation it earned in those early years — a cult red from a corner of Italy nobody was watching — still holds. The blend is 80% Aglianico, one of the south's great structural grapes, softened at the edges by 20% Piedirosso.

Expect a nose of sappy black cherry and blackcurrant, then something darker underneath — tar, liquorice, graphite, dried Mediterranean herbs. The palate is firm without being severe. Aglianico brings the grip and the acid line; the volcanic ground shows up as that smoky, iron-filing minerality that runs right through the finish. It's a wine with real length, and enough tannin to reward another five to ten years in the cellar, though 2018 already gives you plenty now if you treat it kindly.

Open it for a long autumn or winter dinner, the sort where the table settles in and nobody's rushing. It suits conversation and slow-cooked things.

How to Serve

Serve at 16-18°C in a large Bordeaux-style glass. Decant a good hour ahead — this benefits from air, and younger bottles tighten up if you rush them.

Where to Drink It

Planque, for a bottle pulled from a serious cellar over a long lunch. Brat, where the wood-fired cooking meets that smoky volcanic edge head-on.

Food Pairings

I'd point you at slow-braised beef shin or a rare-breed lamb shoulder — the tannins want fat and time. Aged pecorino works too, if you're staying Italian.