Winemaker Notes
In the glass it shows intense garnet red reflections. On the nose aromas of small red fruits, strawberries and currants. Then pomegranate and the unmistakable violet scent of good Sangiovese. In the background a touch of vanilla, sweet spices and licorice. The palate is well balanced with hints of ripe cherries and plums, supported by precise and elegant tannins. The body is warm and enveloping with a long and persistent finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A savory and pretty nuanced Vino Nobile here showing orange zest, plums, grapefruit, mineral and fine spices. A twist of mineral salinity on the palate with firm, tense tannins and a pure, pithy finish. From biodynamically grown grapes. Vegan. Drink in the next five years.
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Wine Spectator
This well-defined red boasts cherry, raspberry, iron and tobacco flavors, with vibrant acidity and dense, resonant tannins. Solidly built and compact, even a bit austere still, with harmony and a long aftertaste. Drink now through 2030. 8,785 cases made, 4,167 cases imported.
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Vinous
The 2019 Nobile di Montepulciano is a total pleasure on the nose. Sweet spice complements bright raspberry and cherry aromas. This envelopes the palate with silky textures balanced by juicy acidity as rose-tinged red berries cascade across the palate. It leaves a gentle coating of fine tannins while maintaining a lovely energy as hard red candy hints fade.
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
This significant Tuscan village—not to be confused with the red grape of the same name widely grown in Abruzzo and the Marche regions—was home to one of the first four Italian DOCGs granted in 1980.
Based on the Sangiovese grape (here called Prugnolo Gentile), the village’s prized wine called Vino Nobile di Montepulciano ranks stylistically in between Chianti Classico, for its finesse, and Brunello di Montalcino for its power. With a deep ruby color, heavy concentration and a firm structure given by the village's heavy, cool clay soils, most Vino Nobile di Montepulciano will demand some bottle age.