Michele Perillo: The Sound of Silence

I have to admit it. 

I like talking with wife producers. My wife says that I ask too many questions, that I'm nuisance and sometimes inappropriate. It's probably true, but I can't help it.

When I find them in front of me, especially those that interest me and when I love their wines, as once happened to the bulls in the arena, I see red colour in front of my eyes, and I can't do anything that attack head down.

At the same time I have a weakness - never hidden - for Michele Perillo's wines. I really like them, indisputably, even if for various reason I have never been able to visit him in his cellar.

For this reason, as soon as - some time ago - I read that he would participate to an event near my hometown, immediately I bought the tickets, and on the established date - in perfect time if not in advance - I was in front of the event office, more precisely in front of its tasting banquet.

However, rather than tasting the bottles that were in front of my eyes, I wanted to talk with him, in order to capture every nuance of his knowledge, to breathe the scent of the Irpinia terroir and, why not, to understand the secret of his wines.

Following text is (more or less) the full dialogue we had. Time has passed but I still remember it well.

Me: "Good morning".

Michele: "Good morning".

Me (I Attack aloof, hoping to involve him in the speech and make him talk about himself and his world): "It is really a great honor to meet you. For me, his Taurasi are between the best within the appellation, great examples of reds from Southern Italy, light years away from stereotypes and to wine critic that would like to endorse everything ..."

Michele (He looks at me unconvinced and almost without smiling he pours me the first wine of the battery, his Taurasi 2009 vintage)

Me (I have the first signs of heeling, but I don't give up. After mentioning a circumstance tasting of the wine, I restart to attack again): "Very interesting. I congratulate you for managing a difficult vintage like 2009. Really a balanced wine, always very deep but even more open and expressive than I would have expected"

Michele: Yes, I agree. (He looks at me again, hints a shy smile and offer me the second wine inside his row, a Taurasi Riserva 2007 vintage)

Me (I am confused. Maybe sketching a "flying" tasting I gave him the impression of being one "an aristocratic winelover", and I ended up irritating him. Then, I taste more resolutely and try a different and more direct approach ): "I have to admit that this is also a great wine, with different characteristics from the previous one but still a great exponent of its terroir. I'm wrong or it seems me that these two wines are the product of two fairly distant vintage?"

Michele: "There are different vintages, moreover the second is a Riserva, and it is still different. Would you like to taste the other one too" (a Taurasi Riserva 2004 vintage)?

Me: (I lost, I have not found a way to talk to him. I admit my defeat myself and without many pleasantries I drink the wine he just served me) "Really excellent. "Congratulations on everything and goodbye"

I disappeared quickly, disappointed and thoughtful, and as soon as I was outside I started with a whole series of reasonings (also defined as "mental blowjobs") about the different characters of people and the most correct approaches to have.

Suddenly, something shook me from numbness. Five minutes had passed. In the mouth I still had the taste and flavor of the wine. I had not gone away, it had remained there, as serious and still as those who had served me.

I finally understood.

The wine I had drunk, the liquid of which I still felt the taste, had shown itself for what it was: the darling son of those who had thought of it, produced and then protected over many years of aging.

It was the expression of the man who only when he had considered it ready, had let him out of his shell and taken flight.

It was the Sound of Silence, the same as the wonderful and legendary song written by Paul Simon in 1964.

No words were needed, not that time.

P.S. Few nights ago I was lucky enough to open one of his Taurasi Riserva 2006.

A sublime experience, a nectar close to perfection (if it really exists), which reminded me of the sensations felt on that day.

The judgment, in this case, is only a tinsel, almost an exercise in style.


Taurasi Riserva Perillo 2006

Personal rating: 96/100

Grapes: 100% Aglianico

Aging: variable according to the year. Usually at least 20 months between big barrel and barrique, then several years in the bottle before the powder

Price range: € 40-50



TASTING

👀 Garnet, not very intense, good density

👃Ultra-clean and intense. Medium complexity but extremely fine and deep. So, the "usual" wonderful manifesto of Aglianico grape. Ripe cherry, ash/smoky notes, tobacco, light spiciness, balsamic background (eucalyptus) which with time takes over the scene more and more

👄Simply spectacular, with an important but not excessive body and an almost brazen youth (unthinkable for a wine of almost 15 years). At the same time great balance between acidity, flavor and softness, also with an admirable pleasantness. Lively tannin without being intrusive. Super persistence, unstoppable progression on the finish, with the taste and flavor of the wine to remain in the mouth for minutes. Alcohol (14.5%) masterfully kept at bay and almost non perceived.