Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesLots of plums on the nose with some flowers. Black cherries and dried flowers, too. Full-bodied with chewy, juicy tannins and a flavorful finish. Deep and rich, yet there’s a fresh form to it. Give it a year or two to soften. Better after 2022.
The 2017 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano offers ripe cherry and blackberry fruit with a long and fleshed out mouthfeel. Poliziano is a detailed-minded estate that is one of the founding fathers of modern Vino Nobile. This forward-looking producer has produced a versatile wine from a hot vintage to pair with pasta or easy meat dishes.
Poliziano is located on the slopes below Montepulciano near the village of Gracciano. On these ridges, at the best altitudes and positions, are the vineyards of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The Poliziano Estate was founded in 1961 when Federico Carletti's father, Dino, purchased 55 acres. Today it consists of over 500 acres.
After taking his degree in agriculture, Federico Carletti worked in northern Italy. In 1980 he returned to Tuscany and began working full time on his father's estate. In the past two decades, Federico has created some of the finest wines in this top quality wine-producing area. Federico chose the name "Poliziano" because he loved the work of a renowned native poet, Angelo Ambrogini. Angelo was known as Il Poliziano, because he came from Montepulciano. Angelo's portrait hangs in the tasting room in the center of the estate. Some of Poliziano's wines, such as Le Stanze, were named after the poet.
Federico thinks of himself "as a farmer", because he is "convinced that fine wines originate in the vineyard. Selected clones, planting layouts, rootstock, pruning methods and training systems are chosen with the sole object of ensuring the quality of the grapes. This is the starting point for my wines: they are made only from grapes grown on the estate, respecting their original vintage and the typicality of the area they come from.”
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.
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.