Winemaker Notes
Deep, ruby-red in color, San Calisto offers layered aromas of ripe blackberries and crushed black cherries, followed by spicy notes of cassis, leather, and Mediterranean wildflowers. On the palate, its firm structure is elegantly softened by its silky, rich mouthfeel.
Pair this wine with barbecued ribs, fresh berry coulis, mint-roasted lamb shank, or steak au poivre.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lots of slate, oyster shell, brambleberries, asphalt and hints of herbs and lavender. Full body, grippy tannins, a fine thread of acidity and a round, succulent finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This wine draws fruit from the estate's Vigna Storica del 1952. With more smoke and savory notes that recall leather and spice, this might be your go-to for marinated tri-tip and a baked potato. The Valle Reale 2015 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo San Calisto is a complete, classic wine with generous, soft tannins. It offers a medium-term drinking window: not too long and not too short. Grapes come from the San Calisto vineyard, which has a traditional overhead trellising system, or pergola. The wine is fermented and aged in large oak casks.
Montepulciano is the second most planted red variety in Italy after Sangiovese, though it is achieves its highest potential in the region of Abruzzo. Consistently enticing and enjoyable, Montepulciano enjoys great popularity throughout central and southern Italy as well. A tiny bit grows with success in California, Argentina and Australia. Somm Secret—Montepulciano is also the name of a village in Tuscany where, confusingly, they don’t grow the Montepulciano grape at all! Sangiovese shines in yet another Tuscan village, here making the reputable wine called Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.
A warm, Mediterranean vine-growing paradise, in Abruzzo, the distance from mountains to seaside is relatively short. The Apenniness, which run through the center of Italy, rise up on its western side while the Adriatic Sea defines its eastern border.
Wine composition tends to two varieties: Abruzzo’s red grape, Montepulciano and its white, Trebbiano. Montepulciano d’Abruzzo can come in a quaffable, rustic and fruity style that generally drinks best young. It is also capable of making a more serious style, where oak aging tames its purely wild fruit.
Trebbiano in Abruzzo also comes in a couple of varieties. Trebbiano Toscana makes a simple and fruity white. However when meticulously tended, the specific Trebbiano d’Abruzzo-based white wines can be complex and long-lived.
In the region’s efforts to focus on better sites and lower yields, vine acreage has decreased in recent years while quality has increased.