It’s easy to get a bit confused by Montepulciano, especially when it comes to wine. The Montepulciano name refers to a town in Tuscany, which does make the very excellent Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, primarily using the Sangiovese grape. On the eastern side of central Italy is the region of Abruzzo, where they grow the Montepulciano grape, and make the wine with the same name. These are very different wines, with the fermented juice from the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo grape generally a lighter, easy drinking red. That said, we have had several different Montepulciano d’Abruzzos recently that have been excellent, with good body and depth. They also tend to be excellent values. Let’s see what we have in this bottle.
Wine: 2016 Caldora Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
Winery Location: Abruzzo, Italy
Tasted By: Neil & Cheri Date: December 2019
Tasting Notes: This is a medium dark, ruby red tending toward garnet. The nose shows raspberry, and cranberry fruit. There are some herbal notes, and I got beeswax as well. On the palate it is medium bodied, with raspberry fruit. There are some firm tannins. Nice acid here also, and the wine is well balanced. This will pair well with pasta and red sauce, which we had with it, as well as lighter fare. Overall it is just a very pleasing wine. This wine does not see any oak.
Price Point – $12 SRP
Would We Buy It? – Absolutely. This is a great value at $12, and you might find it a bit less expensive. It is a great food wine, and a good everyday, house red.
A votre santé!
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