Winemaker Notes
Ruby red in color tending toward garnet, this wine offers fine, elegant aromas of preserved black cherries, white pepper, jam and tobacco. On the palate, it is both full-bodied and intense as well as harmonious with velvety tannins.
Pair with game, roasts and seasoned pecorino cheese.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A restrained and precise wine with high fruit definition and fresh style. Red currants, red cherries, fresh violets, licorice and earth on the nose. Medium-bodied with precise velvety tannins, crisp yet integrated acidity and savory length. Chalky texture in the finish. Drinkable now, but best from 2026.
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.