Winemaker Notes
Ruby red tending to garnet in appearance. The nose is frank and intense, with notes of sour cherry jam, ripe red fruit, dried violet, and cinnamon. A full-bodied and harmonious palate, quite fresh, quite tannic, warm, balanced.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lots of orange peel to the ripe and beautiful cherries. It’s full-bodied with chewy tannins and a flavorful finish. A gorgeous, intense wine. One of the best basic VNMs from here for a long time.
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Wine Spectator
Savory wild herb aromas and flavors are matched to ripe cherry and plum fruit in this smooth red, which is firm and lively, with accents of earth and tobacco chiming in on the finish. Sangiovese and Canaiolo.
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.