Ep 388: The Greats - Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><img style= "display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src= "https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/show/45638/DJI_0087.jpeg" alt="" width="400" height="225" /></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em><span style= "font-size: 8pt;">Photo: Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Nobile Wine of Montepulciano is a wine based on a clone of Sangiovese and from a small hillside town in Tuscany called Montepulciano. It is, indeed, one of the great wines of the world. Although often overshadowed by its neighbors – Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti Classico – and confused with a grapey, high yielding producer in Abruzzo (the Montepulciano grape), this wine has class, style, and a legacy of greatness to back it up.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">After ups and downs over nearly 2000 years of winemaking, Vino Nobile is experiencing a quiet revival and it's one of my favorite wines in Italy. Moderate in body with an interplay of fruit, herb, and brooding tea and forest-y aromas and flavors, this is a wine that those in the know (you!) will immediately fall in love with. With its latest comeback, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is back and better than ever. And who doesn’t love a comeback story?</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style= "font-size: 8pt;"><em><img style= "display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src= "https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/show/45638/montepulciano.png" alt="" width="400" height="256" />Photo: Getty Images</em></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Here are the show notes:</span></p> <ul> <li><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We discuss where exactly this hillside town is: in Tuscany, southeast of Siena, 40 minutes east of Montalcino</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We talk about the specific regulations the region has built into law to try to improve the wines:</span> <ul> <li><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Grapes must grow on the