Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
A lively, well-defined red, featuring cherry, raspberry, eucalyptus, iron and tobacco aromas and flavors. Linear and intense, this evolves to the long, savory finish. Best from 2026 through 2038.
-
James Suckling
A fresh and structured red with black cherries, tea leaves and raw cocoa beans on the nose. Medium-bodied and chewy but approachable, with purity. From organically grown grapes. Sustainable. Made in amphorae.
-
Vinous
The 2021 Nobile di Montepulciano opens in the glass with a minty freshness, blending rose petals with dried strawberries and hints of cedar. It’s silky smooth and cool-toned in feel, with ripe wild berry fruit touches that wash across the palate, leaving a coating of chalky mineral notes in their wake. This tapers off with a tinge of sour citrus contrasting with sweet spice, long yet lively and wonderfully approachable.
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.