Vino Nobile di Montepulciano: The noble choice

By Mary Malik

Let’s continue our wine journey and head to the Tuscan hilltop town known as the “Pearl of the Renaissance,” due to its 16th century architecture, among other things.

“Montepulciano produces another of Tuscany’s highly prized wines,” Jim Sperk of the Northern Ohio Wine Guild says. “Vino Nobile di Montepulciano has a long history of being a favorite among popes, kings and even Thomas Jefferson, who claimed the wine ‘most superlatively good.’”

The name translates to “noble wine from Montepulciano,” reflecting its premier place among influential dignitaries centuries ago.

“Nobile can only be produced from vines located on the hilltops around Montepulciano,” Jim says. “The Sangiovese grape, which is grown throughout Tuscany, takes on a slightly different character when grown on these hills that offer ideal growing conditions and the right soil composition for the grapes.”

Jim says that the Sangiovese grape must make up at least 70 percent of the blend in Nobile wine, although most producers make their best Nobile from 100 percent Sangiovese grapes. This results in a rich and complex wine with great depth of flavor that still retains notes of red fruit.

The Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wine is aged for a minimum of two years before released, or three years in order to be labeled Riserva.

Now let’s talk about how it tastes. With a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano you can expect firm tannins, a vibrant acidity with plum, cherry and a bit of spice aroma and rich red fruit flavors. Although this “noble” wine is one of the finest in the world, it might be the best wine you’ve never heard of since it is mostly undiscovered in this country.

“You would normally expect to pay a premium for such a ‘noble’ wine,” Jim says. “But because of its relative anonymity here, the price is not nearly that of other similar quality wines.”

If you’re a red wine lover, you might want to try one before the word gets out.

For information on the Northern Ohio Wine Guild, contact Jim Sperk at tinymoonwines@usa.net.