Good values are still out there, like Cantine Dei's 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, a deliciously rustic red from southern Tuscany. It's a modern-day classic, driven by the local type of Sangiovese, called Prugnolo Gentile, along with the added complexity of Tuscany's mellow, herbal-tinged Canaiolo grape. It's packed with a lot of character and charm for the price!
The area around the scenic hilltop town of Montepulciano, in the heart of Italy, has the gently rolling limestone and clay hills that create ideal vineyard sites for great wines. Its history in winemaking goes back millennia, at least to the Etruscans, and it was popular with that passionate wine lover, Thomas Jefferson! Cantine Dei is among the small number of wineries that helped bring Montepulciano to the modern wine world's attention, especially in 1985 when this Vino Nobile bottling became their calling card!
Vino Nobiles like this have a lot in common with the warm reds of its closest famous neighbors around Siena, like the robust Chiantis of Castelnuovo Berardenga or Rossos of Montalcino. The wines show dark, sun-kissed red fruits woven with savory accents of warm iron-rich clay earth and herbal/tobacco notes; the smooth vinous mouthfeel is imbued with the signature sensations of softly grippy, grainy tannins. Two years of aging in large oak casks enhances the balsam and spice notes, softening and rounding the edges. What's distinctive about Cantine Dei's wines is their combination of powerful Mediterranean character and wild, aromatic complexity that seem to transmit the southern Tuscan hills in late Summer! Happily, the 2019 vintage provided this Vino Nobile with all of that in a seductively balanced package for enjoying now!
#34 ON WINE SPECTATOR TOP WINES OF THE YEAR 2023
WINE SPECTATOR 93 POINTS - "A smooth red, with cherry, plum and spice flavors shaded by savory underbrush and wild herb accents. Shows iron and tobacco details on then long finish, with fine balance and grip overall. Prugnolo Gentile and Canaiolo."
PRACTICING ORGANIC
The area around the scenic hilltop town of Montepulciano, in the heart of Italy, has the gently rolling limestone and clay hills that create ideal vineyard sites for great wines. Its history in winemaking goes back millennia, at least to the Etruscans, and it was popular with that passionate wine lover, Thomas Jefferson! Cantine Dei is among the small number of wineries that helped bring Montepulciano to the modern wine world's attention, especially in 1985 when this Vino Nobile bottling became their calling card!
Vino Nobiles like this have a lot in common with the warm reds of its closest famous neighbors around Siena, like the robust Chiantis of Castelnuovo Berardenga or Rossos of Montalcino. The wines show dark, sun-kissed red fruits woven with savory accents of warm iron-rich clay earth and herbal/tobacco notes; the smooth vinous mouthfeel is imbued with the signature sensations of softly grippy, grainy tannins. Two years of aging in large oak casks enhances the balsam and spice notes, softening and rounding the edges. What's distinctive about Cantine Dei's wines is their combination of powerful Mediterranean character and wild, aromatic complexity that seem to transmit the southern Tuscan hills in late Summer! Happily, the 2019 vintage provided this Vino Nobile with all of that in a seductively balanced package for enjoying now!
#34 ON WINE SPECTATOR TOP WINES OF THE YEAR 2023
WINE SPECTATOR 93 POINTS - "A smooth red, with cherry, plum and spice flavors shaded by savory underbrush and wild herb accents. Shows iron and tobacco details on then long finish, with fine balance and grip overall. Prugnolo Gentile and Canaiolo."
PRACTICING ORGANIC
Overall Rating
0 out of 5 Based on 0 Review
