The Vinum: Il Rosso Montepulciano D’Abruzzo DOC, Ortona, Italy. 13% ABV, $25/bottle by Topochines.com
Translucent garnet in color. A floral, violet-driven nose with bright red fruit, dried leaves, and an essence of green cuttings. On the palate: delightful cherry and young raspberry on the fruit profile, together with an excellent acidity and chewy tannins; rounded out with notes of earth, clove, cumin, cinnamon, oak, and slate. Unlike many Montepulcianos I have tasted, this one is in great shape to drink young but has enough acidity and fruit to age for a decade or two, when this wine would go from really good to possibly stunning- if you can bear to keep it that long. Made from 100% Nero grapes, this is a wine to please your wine-loving friends and make their mouths water.
I paired this wine with a pot roast and was thrilled at the result, a very complementary set of flavors for the roast and the winter vegetables. But unlike most wines, I couldn’t stop pouring myself another one-0unce taste over and over again, as my nose went back again for the violet aromas that filled the top of my palate, even as I enjoyed the wine with meringues for dessert instead of coffee or tea. This is a wine that won’t allow me to taste it over a week with at least three proteins, because it isn’t going to last that long. Hello, time to order a case?
This wine has made me more interested in the Nero grape (since it was a new expression of the grape to me), as well as the wine importer/retailer/wholesaler Topochines Vino, whose selections are intriguing, reasonably priced, and made me raise an eyebrow and want to order several bottles as soon as I began to browse their online store. A clear win, and worth checking out.
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