An old friend returns! Musto Carmelitano is made by Elisabetta Musto Carmelitano, a winemaker who counts world famous heavyweights like Andrea Occhipinti among her friends. Elisabetta prefers to stay outside the limelight, but in her vineyards on the basalt black hillsides of the Vulture volcano, she grows some of the very best – and very smokiest – Aglianico in Italy. Her vineyards stand out from above, greener than her neighbors’ plots thanks to organic farming, and the resulting wine is more complex, more intense, and flavorful than the rest, even this entry-tier Maschitano Rosso drawn from young vines. Earth forward aromas of black soil, sandalwood and cedar, blackcurrant, black pepper and smoked meat. The palate is robust, with thick set tannins that cry out for a rich cut of meat. There’s flavors of pitch black cherry, tar and graphite and iron-rich soil that lingers through the finish. This is the rare $20 wine that benefits from a good hour or two of decanting.