Winemaker Notes
#13 Wine Enthusiast Top 100 of 2020
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is a brilliant color with hints of garnet as it ages. Intense bouquet, pungent and ripe, with aroma of ripe cherry, plum and violets. Flavorful, balanced and persistent, it has soft, velvety tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Fragrant blue flower, crushed aromatic herb and wild berry aromas form the nose of this smooth, full-bodied red. A blend of 90% Sangiovese and 10% Canaiolo Nero, it’s savory and loaded with finesse, delivering juicy black cherry, ripe blackberry, truffle and cocoa before a star anise finish. Supple tannins and bright acidity provide seamless support and balance. Drink 2021–2031. Editors' Choice.
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James Suckling
Vivid and energetic red with cherry and orange-peel character. Full-bodied, tight and linear with pretty tannins and focus. Drink now or hold.
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Decanter
Harvest was later than in 2015 at Dei. Due to the late rainfall, they picked in stages, starting on 5 October and concluding on 16 October. This brings together grapes from three different areas with diverse soils, altitudes and expositions, giving a general expression of the Montepulciano region. Despite significant ripeness of fruit, there's plenty of freshness and purity. Glossy dark red cherry is nuanced by thyme and rosemary. The tannins are big and upfront but padded with sufficient plump fruit, with some juiciness appearing on the finish. Drinking Window 2019 - 2028
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.