On the Road with the Grape Guy

On the Road with the Grape Guy is a on-going feature that follows me from event to event ... I post my thoughts, feelings and reviews of what happened and what I tasted ... basically it is here that I review the events I attend and the things that thrilled me.

Report from : Vino Nobile Anteprima 2022

27 Mar 2022

 

(March, 2022) ... MONTEPULCIANO – Throughout the Anteprima season in Italy I continue to use my usual rules of not scoring unfinished wines (aka: barrel / tank samples), but this year none of the Vino Nobile fit that bill, so I have a whole lot of scored and finished wines to tell you about. 34 wines made the cut this year (out of 68 wines); ranging from the current vintage (2019) to some Selezione and Riservas.

Diving into the vintage a little … the 2019s seem to have a real nice freshness and drinkability to them, they even seem to have tannins that are much more approachable and the acidity, while very much present, also seems to be toned down; this makes the 2019 wines very drinkable, but also ageable … let’s get to the wines.

Below are the scored wines for current showing of Vino Nobile.


THREE AND A HALF STARS

Le Bertille 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano  (*** ½)
Tenuta Trerosa 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano - Santa Caterina (*** ½)
La Berne 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano  (*** ½)
Tenuta di Gracciano della Seta 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano  (*** ½)
Bindella 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano - Bindella (*** ½)
Bindella 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Selezione - I Quadri (*** ½)
Tenuta Trerose 2018 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva - Simposio (*** ½)
Fassati 2018 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano - Pasiteo (*** ½)
Contucci 2017 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano  (*** ½)
Palazzo Vecchio 2016 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva  (*** ½)


THREE AND A HALF PLUS STARS

Vecchia Cantina di Montepulciano 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano  (*** ½+)
Gattavecchi 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano  (*** ½+)
Il Molinaccio 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano - La Spinosa (*** ½+)
Le Bertille 2018 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva  (*** ½+)
Carpineto 2018 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva  (*** ½+)
Le Berne 2018 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva  (*** ½+)
La Breccesca 2018 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva - Santa Pia (*** ½+)
Il Macchione 2018 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano  (*** ½+)
Priorino 2018 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano - Viola (*** ½+)
Palazzo Vecchio 2017 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano - Maestro (*** ½+)
De ' Ricci 2017 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Selezione - Soraldo (*** ½+)
Dei 2017 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva - Bossona (*** ½+)
Carpineto 2015 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Selezione - Poggio Sant'Enrico (*** ½+)
Montemercurio 2015 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Selezione - Damo (*** ½+)

 

FOUR STARS

La Ciarliana 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano  (****)
ripe black cherry, touch of tobacco and mocha, good acidity, tannins need a couple more years but the fruit will carry it
Dei 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano  (****)
there's a little leaness on the palate, but there is also some juicy dark fruit here, a little smoke plenty of flavour to spare
La Braccesca 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano  (****)
very approachable with its lively and pure red fruit backed with some dark notes of plum, black cherry and blackberry wine
Guidotti 2018 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano  (****)
really dig the plum and dark fruit here, the smokiness gives it an edge, and there's a touch of mocha/coffee bean and nice tannin structure
Casa Vinicola Triacca 2017 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Selezione - Poderuccio (****)
fresh and lively on the palate with it's mix of red and dark fruit, good acid punch plus those tannins seem to be dialed in
Contucci 2017 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Selezione - Mulinvecchio (****)
there's a very coffee/tobacco like note to this wine that also draws you in with black plums, red currants and red pepper jelly.


FOUR PLUS STARS

Boscarelli 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano  (****+)
nice freshness with good acidity, the fruit comes across a little on the sour side but it works, and the tannins are softer than expected
Poliziano 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano  (****+)
American in style with juicy blackberry and cassis, but the acidty is still there and helps polish up the finish
De' Ricci 2019 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano  (****+)
 smooth and unexpected entry, nice hint of spice and acidity on the finish; mid-palate juiciness that's really pleasant, tannins don't get in the way


FOUR AND A HALF STARS

Boscarelli 2018 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva  (**** ½)
nice hints of floral on the nose lead to a palate with good concentration of dark fruits, by the third sip the acidity has come alive creating a lively finish


The Pieve Project ...

Something new coming down the road from Vino Nobile is the Pieve Project - plots of land, called Pieve, country side church sites, but also have the mean of work and future and also peace. There are twelve of these new zones and 41 of the 120 wineries in the consortium were allowed to take part in the project. The rules of these wines are: must be min. 15 year old vines, 85% Sangiovese / 15% other indigenous varieties, 36 months in oak / 12 months in bottle; so we will not be tasting the finished product until 2025 (or so).

The Pieves are: Cervognano / Cerliana / Caggiole / Sant' Albino / Valiano / Ascianello / San Biagio / Le Grazie / Gracciano / Badia / Argiano / Valardegna

 

Report from : Anteprima Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2022

26 Mar 2022

(March 2022) ... Vernaccia is the white grape of Tuscany and the first to receive DOCG status – when I first started coming to this portion of the Anteprima Toscana I wondered why anyone would care about this grape, because the wines were so terrible – now I lament that we don’t get any into Ontario (or very few).

The best versions of these wines have freshness in the form of minerality and acidity backed by citrus fruit and / or stone fruit. The best Riservas keep that lively freshness, while also adding weight and texture to the delicate wine without over-powering or over-oxygenating (oxidized) the wine.

More and more winemakers here are starting to understand that freshness, acidity and fruitiness wins out over oak and makes this grape not only unique, but a wonderful summer wine that brings pleasure to the consumer. Yes, they still insist on oak in the Riservas, but there seems to be a pulling back that allows for fruit (not oak) to shine trough. Plus, there is a push towards single vineyard offerings to showcase terroir.

As previously stated we don’t see a lot of Vernaccia wines in Ontario, I can’t speak for the rest of Canada, but the wines made around San Gimignano are a rarity on LCBO shelves, so instead of providing full tasting notes; I’ve used my Good / Better / Best approach. I would also like to point out another reason for using this grading system: this year’s paperwork did not specify whether the wines tried were finished or a tank / barrel sample – it is because of this I am also leery to give an official score to these wines … therefore I am treating every wine as a “sample”.

With that all said, I give my usual disclaimer for an Anteprima tasting:  I do not score unfinished wines, too much can go wrong between tank / barrel and bottle that can compromise or otherwise change the wine that I have I tried as a “sample”. So, I will be rating all of these wine using the above mentioned system.

The Vintage:
"2021 was a more than satisfactory year, both in terms of quality and quantity. Despite the difficulties due to frost in April and the dryness in July and August, with the lowering of temperatures from mid-August, the plants once again started their regular activity.

In general, in 2021, Vernaccia enjoyed and excellent maturation, slow and elongated in time that has led to fresh, ready, snappy wines, which suggest the unfolding of power and elegance over time”.

GOOD POTENTIAL

Cantine Guidi 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Casa Lucil 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Fattoria San Donato 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Guicciadini Strozzi 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Palagetto 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Poderi Arcangelo 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
San Benedetto 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Signano 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Tenuta La Vigna 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Tollena 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Alessandro Tofanari 2020 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Cesani 2020 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Montenidoli 2020 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Montenidoli 2019 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Il Pagagione 2020 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG Riserva
Fornacelle 2019 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG Riserva
San Benedetto 2019 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG Riserva
Teruzzi 2018 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG Riserva

 

BETTER POTENTIAL

Abbazia Monteoliveto 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Casale Falchini 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Fattoria di Fugnano 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Fattoria Poggio alloro 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Fornacelle 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Guicciadini Strozzi 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Il Palagione 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Panizzi 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Tenuta Le Calcinaie 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Teruzzi 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Il Colombaio di Santa Chiara 2020 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Panizzi 2020 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Vagnoni 2019 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Il Palagione 2019 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
Casa alle Vacche 2019 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG Riserva
Fattoria San Donato 2019 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG Riserva
Tenuta Le Calcinaie 2019 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG Riserva
Casa Luci 2017 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG Riserva

 

BEST POTENTIAL (and why)

Casa alle Vacche 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG    
great hit of pineapple and melon here - really refreshing

Fattoria Poggio alloro 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG    
fresh, lively, nice acidity and pleasant array of white fruits, there's even has a little lemon rind to give it some presence on the finish

Poderi Arcangelo 2021 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG
refreshing and almost spritzy with good acidity and lively citrus fruit

Vagnoni 2018 Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG Riserva
notes of fresh pineapple and lemon drop, very appealing, plus good acidity

 

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