“Hi, I am Pat and I wore biker shorts in the 80’s – but I did not wear Z Cavaricci’s!”
I also dabbled here and there with Chianti. It was far from an inspiring event, which leaves me wondering – did I really ever like it? Was it better back in the day? Or was it just cheap and could render a female’s good sense fuzzy for $3.99?
For some reason lately, there has been a longing to revisit my old friend Chianti to see if it has turned a corner… to see if the champ has returned, and more importantly, to see if it still had the same effect on the ladies. By “ladies”, that means the wife, and I already know the answer. Sorry Chianti, unless Albus Dumbledore is your winemaker, you do not stand a chance against her.
With Chinati discouragement at an all-time high, I decided to revisit a different Sangiovese friend known as Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. As most people who are “into” Italian wines know, Montepulciano the grape is not grown and produced in Montepulciano the town. So when you see Montepulciano d’Abruzzo on a wine label you are looking at the grape grown in the Abbruzzo region of Italy not the town in Tuscany. Confusing I know – Montepulciano is both a region and a grape, neither of which has anything to do with the other.
Montepulciano the town produces the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, made from no less than 70% Sangiovese, with another 10-20% being Canaiolo Nero (which was once a dominant grape in Chianti) and a few other grapes added in small quantities. What makes this Vino Nobile di Montepulciano so special? For one, there are not many producers. There are only a small amount, around 65-70 total producers, several of which are new to the area. Of this small amount of producers, a minuscule 10-12% actually make it into the United States.
The rules for blending give winemakers enough wiggle room to adjust the wine to their needs from vintage to vintage and winemakers are doing just that. The Vino Nobile must be aged for 2 years in barrel, and a 3rd year to be labeled “riserva”, which adds to the complexity of their wines.
I chose the 2006 Fattoria TorCalvano Gracciano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano for my dive back into the serious world of Sangiovese. This wine did not disappoint, bringing a beautiful dark fruit nose combined with nice floral elements and just a little earthy/mushroom funk on the nose. The wine delivered chewy leather laden tannin structure while maintaining medium body elegance. Sour cherry, blackberry and a touch of cigar ash round out the flavors. This wine is a perfect blend of old world characteristics with a touch of fruit, which will appeal to wine drinkers still walking the line between fruit driven wines and earthy, structured wines.
At $21 a bottle this is a go-to bottle when you feel you want those rustic charms of a Brunello or a Barolo and just do not want to open that $40+ bottle, or do not want to crack one too young. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is a hard bird to spot in the forest, as not much makes it to our store shelves. If you keep your eyes peeled, you will be rewarded.
For those of you cursing me for my unfair bashing of Chianti – I understand that Chianti Classico is a much more serious wine. A subregion within the Chianti region, these wines require 7 months in oak while Chinati Classico’s labeled “riserva” must be aged 27 months at the winery (not necessarily in barrel). There are many sub regions and classifications (laws if you will) in Chianti, all with varied requirements and many wineries do make very serious wines. It is unfair to poke fun at the entire region. For that, I do apologize.
Oh yeah – the Volturi is the Vampire Police if you will from the movie Twilight. Their home is from the town bearing the same name, Montepulciano, which was used for filming of the movie. It is unknown whether the cast was lucky enough to drink the wine from the region.
