Monday Night Wine Dinner

Mon Jun 25, 2012

Dawn Gaudini Pours The Wines Of Poliziano, Tuscany, Italy  

Although well known by connoisseurs and professionals, the wines of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano are often overshadowed by the neighboring wines and more famous names of Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino. In addition, they are at times confused with the entirely different and more deeply colored and rustic grape, Montepulciano from Abruzzo, to the southeast. Located on nearly the same latitude as Montalcino, Montepulciano employs a local clone of Sangiovese-here called Prugnolo Gentile, which is virtually indistinguishable from the Sangiovese Grosso of Brunello fame. The resulting wines have much more in common with Brunello than the more delicate wines of Chianti; they can have an almost baked fruit quality, and show Mediterranean scrub and herbal aromas, with significant tannin.