Winemaker Notes
The Vino Nobile di Montepulciano has a brilliant ruby red color, with garnet tinges as it ages. It has an intense bouquet with aromas of ripe cherries, plums and violets. It represents the perfect combination of structure and elegance: its full body and velvety tannins are balanced by its fine acidity. The wine is decidedly persistent and harmonious.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Subtle but enticing perfume to the nose, offering cherry-based aromas that are tinged with bright, tangy spice. Full-bodied with a super intense bead of perfectly placed fruit and tannin. There’s slight firmness to the tannin at the end, so wait a year for perfect integration. Beautiful quality here. Not overly complex, but such good winemaking. Best from 2023.
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Wine Enthusiast
Made with 90% Sangiovese and 10% Canaiolo Nero, this soft, full-bodied red has aromas of new leather, ripe plum and dark spice. On the enveloping, accessible palate, velvety tannins accompany fleshy black cherry, coconut and coffee bean before a bitter almond close.
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.