The wines of Italy take advantage of a unique heritage, a heritage made of hundreds of autochthonous grapes which since many centuries color the vineyards of this country. Not always these indigenous grapes have been favored by the choices of producers. Despite many are trying since many years the revaluation of these varieties, there are still many producers who prefer using the grapes considered as international, mainly of French origin, who use both alone as well as blended with the grapes of their territories. It may also be a matter of “fashion” - or simply a commercial matter - but if we consider the wines currently produced in Italy, most of them make use of “international” grapes. It is very evident and it would make no use to deny this: names like Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon - as to mention some of the most common ones - have a certain charm on consumers and on the psychology of senses, indeed, they frequently represent the winning point for a commercial success.

 Italian autochthonous grapes are therefore not suited for making commercial and interesting wines for consumers? Of course not. There are so many examples in Italy - from Vallée d'Aoste to Sicily - of excellent wines which can witness the excellence of Italian autochthonous grapes. However, among the many indigenous grapes of this country, there undoubtedly are positions of privilege, autochthonous grapes having a high reputation and fame, and others - and most of the times unjustly - destined to solely play the role of the ugly duckling, grapes suited for the production of “ordinary” wines only having little or no enological interest. This consideration is, of course, highly disputable. How many secondary grapes and of low enological interest have been transformed into real main actors thanks to the job of “visionary” wine makers and “stubborn” producers, by relying - first of all - to quality criteria and obtaining excellent results? Quality. A word which can make the difference in everything, including wine.

 It should be said - for the sake of truth - many autochthonous grapes, too much for sure, have been literally abused, not only with the purpose of making low quality products, but also for making huge quantities of wines: the more there is, the more can be sold. Because of this speculative behavior, many grapes have never been used for quality production, while favoring a denigratory culture towards these grapes, therefore making consumers believe “certain” grapes are only suited for making bad wine. Autochthonous Italian grapes which are unjustly considered “lesser”, both by consumers as well as wine making industries are many, unjustly condemned to the role of Cinderella with no hope to show their real value. Among the many grapes which could be mentioned as an example, one in particular is considered by many years a lesser grape and that recently - luckily - some producers are trying to revaluate: Lambrusco.

 We guess many of our readers, by reading the name “Lambrusco”, are thinking about very ordinary wine, sometimes exaggeratedly sparkling and with an evident sweet taste, something to be considered as a wine with no hope and which will never be able to show anything recalling quality and surprise. True, and it makes no sense to deny it: most of the wines produced with Lambrusco grapes do not certainly bring thoughts of quality of something capable of expressing quality. However it is also true generalization only brings the raising of prejudices and does not allow the understanding of things, most of the times keeps people away from the attempt of understanding things. If it is true most of Lambrusco wines do not certainly give this grape a dignity, it should also be said there are producers who have obtained excellent results, therefore showing Lambrusco can really make great things, just like any other grape. And when quality meets Lambrusco, the result is amazing and in a moment that not very representing ocean of Lambrusco is forgotten.

 Lambrusco - and with this we are considering all Lambrusco varieties - is not a lesser grape and it certainly deserves more than we usually find in bottles. Maybe the fact most of the Lambrusco is produced in the slightly sparkling style, does not help to revaluate this grape. In fact, if it is true bubbles are considered noble in sparkling wines - in particular in “classic method” wines - they become not noble at all when slightly sparkling wines are mentioned. This is also because of the “disputable” methods used for the production of low quality slightly sparkling wines; the fact Lambrusco is “frizzante” (Italian for “slightly sparkling”) does not help to make things better. Slightly sparkling, sweet or dry, Lambrusco - thanks to the job of some serious producers - is showing to be a grape capable of making good quality wines. Indeed, Lambrusco grape has everything in order to make a good wine, although the tradition of its land wants this wine to be always frizzante, that is slightly sparkling.

 Also etymology seems to connect, according to some theories, Lambrusco to bubbles. The name Lambrusco could in fact come from Latin Lab, meaning lip, and ruscus, that is something pungent to the palate, that is slightly sparkling. Another theory believes Lambrusco comes from Latin Labrum, that is margin, as it was a vine typically and wildly growing in the borders of fields - that is a wild variety - in the parts less used for cultivation. Lambrusco is mainly common in Emilia Romagna - in particular in the provinces of Modena and Reggio Emilia - and in Lombardy, in the province of Mantua. The most important varieties are Lambrusco di Sorbara, Lambrusco Grasparossa and Lambrusco Salamino, however the family is completed by Lambrusco Marani, Lambrusco Maestri, Lambrusco Montericco and Lambrusco Viadanese, as well as the less known varieties Lambrusca di Alessandria, Lambrusco a foglia frastagliata and the now extinguished Lambrusco Oliva. Each of these varieties, in their typical areas of cultivation, produces very interesting wines in case quality is the primary factor, unfortunately rare and adopted by few producers. Lambrusco is a grape - and a wine - which must certainly be understood and rediscovered, capable of giving fine emotions just like other famous and renowned wines. Lambrusco? Certainly yes! Producers and wine makers, it is your turn: give Lambrusco the dignity it deserves!

 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is among the most ancient known wines of Italy or, better to say, one of those wines which were in the past already associated to their territories and that still today are used to identify them. Produced in the city of Montepulciano - in the province of Siena - it has nothing in common with the homonymous red berried grape found in other Italian regions and in particular Abruzzo, Vino Nobile is mainly obtained with Prugnolo Gentile, the name used in Montepulciano to call Sangiovese Grosso. Prugnolo Gentile - despite it is the main grape of this wine, frequently used alone - it is not the only grape used for the production of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, to which it is sometimes added Canaiolo Nero, Colorino and Mammolo. According to the production disciplinary, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano must age for at least 24 months, of which most of them in cask or barrique, 36 months for the riserva style.

 Montepulciano's wine is mentioned for the first time in 789 AD, in a document written by clergyman Arnipert with which he donated a vineyard of the castle of Policiano to the church of San Silvestro at Lanciniano sull'Amiata. From that moment on, the wine of Montepulciano will be mentioned in other documents, but it will be in 1549 this wine is mentioned with words of praise. In that year Sante Lancerio - cellar master and wine steward of Pope Paul III - defined it as truly perfect wine, a gentleman's wine. The wine of Montepulciano, in the course of the years, received the title of “King”, in the dithyramb “Bacchus in Tuscany”, written in 1685 by Francesco Redi - doctor, naturalist and literate from Arezzo - where in the final verse can be read “Montepulciano is the King of all wines”. The adjective nobile - that is, noble - is found for the first time in 1787, where in an accounting report of the Governor of “Regio Ritiro di San Girolamo” - Giovan Filippo Neri - the wine is mentioned with the term nobile.

 The main protagonist of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is Prugnolo Gentile, name with which in this area is called Sangiovese Grosso. Despite in the production of this wine are allowed other grapes as well - in particular Canaiolo Nero, Mammolo and Colorino - Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is frequently produced with Prugnolo Gentile only. Of good vigor, characterized by clusters rich in round berries of a blue-black skin and rich in bloom, Prugnolo Gentile usually reaches full ripening between the end of September and the first days of October. Prugnolo Gentile has a pretty high content in sugar - therefore producing wines with a pretty high alcohol by volume - and also the content in acids is pretty high, a quality giving an evident crispness in its wines. The content in polyphenols - to which are also added to ones passed from wood during aging - as well as acidity and alcohol, allow the wines produced with this grape to stand to long periods of aging and to pretty long evolution times, frequently more than 20 years.

	The three Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wines of our comparative tasting

 The wines selected for our comparative tasting are all produced with 100% Prugnolo Gentile, and they differ for the type of container and the period used for aging. The goal of this comparative tasting is the understanding of Prugnolo Gentile's qualities in function of the aging technique. The first wine of our comparative tasting is Dei's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva Bossona, aged for 24 months in cask and for 12 in bottle. The second wine is Tenuta Valdipiatta's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Vigna d'Alfiero, aged for 18 months in barrique and for 12 in bottle. The third wine is Poliziano's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Asinone, for which has been used an aging technique of 18 months in cask and barrique, as well as 8 months of aging in bottle. The wines will be served at the temperature of 18° C (65° F) and will be used - as usual - three ISO tasting glasses.

 Prugnolo Gentile - just like all the other Sangiovese varieties - is characterized by a coloring capacity which can be defined as “average”. Wines produced with this grape show in fact a moderate transparency, something different from what can be observed, for example, in wines produced with Cabernet Sauvignon. There are however cases in which the transparency of Prugnolo Gentile is pretty low, a quality which can be obtained with the concentration of coloring substances found in grapes, by keeping - for example - a low yield in vineyards. Because of the long time of aging before being commercialized, the color which can be observed in “young” Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is generally intense and brilliant ruby red, with nuances of the same color. As time goes by, the color tends to get intense garnet red hues and evident brick red nuances.

 We will begin the appearance analysis from Dei's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva Bossona. By holding the glass tilted on a white surface - a white sheet of paper or a white tablecloth will do - we will evaluate, at the base of the glass where the liquid mass is thicker, the color. It will be observed an intense ruby red color, with a moderate transparency. By observing the wine to the edge of the liquid mass, that is towards the opening of the glass, we will notice evident garnet red nuances. Let's now pass to the evaluation of the second wine of our comparative tasting: Tenuta Valdipiatta's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Vigna d'Alfiero. The color of this wine, observed while holding the glass tilted, is intense and brilliant ruby red, with garnet red nuances, not so different from the previous wine. As opposed to the previous wine, here transparency is lower. The color of the third wine - Poliziano's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Asinone - is not different from the previous ones: it can be in fact observed an intense ruby red color, whereas as opposed as the two previous wines, nuances are characterized by a ruby red. Also in this wine, just like in the previous one, it can be observed a low transparency.

 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is generally characterized by a pretty complex and interesting olfactory profile. This quality is given both by Prugnolo Gentile as well as the long aging times provided for the production disciplinary and which gives the wine an evident complex character. Despite its complexity, in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano are perceived more usual aromatic qualities as well, belonging to the world of flowers and fruit. Plum and black cherry are the main aromatic qualities belonging to the world of fruit and which can be perceived in Prugnolo Gentile, however it is not rare to find blueberry as well. The main representative of the world of flowers is violet, sometimes the rose as well. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano has complex aromatic qualities, such as vanilla, cinnamon, licorice, mace, nutmeg, tobacco, black pepper and pink pepper, as well as balsamic aromas of menthol and eucalyptus.

 We will begin the evaluation of aromas from Dei's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva Bossona. By holding the glass in vertical position and without swirling, we will do a first smell in order to evaluate opening aromas of the wine, made of “light” aromatic substances and which do not require a big quantity of oxygen in order to volatilize. From the glass will be appreciated intense and very clean aromas of plum, black cherry and violet: an opening which can be defined as typical and characteristic of Prugnolo Gentile and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Let's now proceed with the swirling of the glass in order to favor the oxygenation of the wine therefore allowing the volatilization of “heavy” aromas and which will complete the aromatic profile of the wine. From the glass will be perceived aromas of blueberry, raspberry and rose as well as more complex qualities of tobacco, vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon, pink pepper and mace. It should also be noticed the pleasing balsamic sensation of menthol, very pleasing and very balanced.

 The opening of the second wine - Tenuta Valdipiatta's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Vigna d'Alfiero - is not very different from the previous wine: also in this case are perceived intense and very clean aromas of black cherry, plum and violet to which is added a pleasing aroma of blackberry. Let's now proceed with the swirling of the glass in order to favor the development of other aromas. From the glass will be perceived aromas of raspberry, blueberry and rose, as well as aromas of tobacco, vanilla, licorice, chocolate, cinnamon and mace, to which is added the balsamic touch of menthol. The opening of the third wine - Poliziano's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Asinone - is characterized by intense and clean aromas of black cherry, plum, blueberry and violet, also in this case, a typical opening of Prugnolo Gentile. The aromatic profile of this wine - evaluated after having swirled the glass - is completed by intense and clean aromas of black currant, vanilla, cocoa, tobacco, licorice, pink pepper and hints of rubber. It should also be noticed the pleasing balsamic touch of menthol and the mineral hints of graphite.

 Thanks to the characteristics of Prugnolo Gentile, to the technique and the long time of aging, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is pretty interesting to the taste. Among the main gustatory qualities are found an appreciable and refreshing acidity, an evident full structure, also given by the aging in cask or barrique. These qualities will be perceptible in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano since the moment of attack - that is the sensation perceived in the mouth at the first sip - where the pleasing acidity of Prugnolo Gentile and the astringency of tannins are opposed to the roundness given by aging and alcohol. Alcohol also plays an important role in balancing acidity and astringency: in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano it can in fact reach 15%, however the average volume is 14%. Also the structure perceived in the mouth is remarkable: evidently full and robust.

 Let's now proceed with the practical phase of tasting by beginning from Dei's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva Bossona. In the attack of this first wine is perceived the astringency produced by tannins as well as the typical acidity of Prugnolo Gentile, to which is added a sensation of robust structure. It should be noticed the role of alcohol and how it balances the wine. Also excellent is the correspondence to the nose. Let's now pass to the second wine: Tenuta Valdipiatta's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Vigna d'Alfiero. Also the attack of this wine is pretty astringent and with a robust structure, however, as opposed to the previous wine, crispness is slightly lower with a “rounder” sensation. Also in this case it can be perceived the role played by alcohol in the balance. The attack of the third wine - Poliziano's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Asinone - is tannic and robust, with an appreciable crispness and a pleasing roundness, very well balanced by alcohol.

 Another interesting quality of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is represented by the final sensations which can be perceived in the mouth after having swallowed the wine, generally characterized by a long taste-olfactory persistence. The finish of Dei's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva Bossona is persistent, leaving in the mouth pleasing and intense flavors of black cherry, plum and blueberry, typical in Prugnolo Gentile. The finish of Tenuta Valdipiatta's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Vigna d'Alfiero is very persistent, leaving in the mouth long and intense flavors of plum, black cherry and blackberry. Also the finish of the third wine - Poliziano's Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Asinone - is characterized by a long persistence, leaving in the mouth long, intense and pleasing flavors of black cherry, blueberry and plum, very correspondent and typical in Prugnolo Gentile. It should be noticed the sensation of crispness and structure which can be perceived in the mouth after the swallowing of the three wines and the excellent correspondence to the nose.

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