Tenuta Valdipiatta Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2021

Tenuta Valdipiatta Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

Region: Tuscany, Italy

Vintage: 2021

Bottle size: 75cl

Grape: Sangiovese, Canaiolo

ABV: 14.5%

Intense ruby red in colour, the nose boasts notes of black cherry, violets and roses, dark and sweet spices, tobacco and black pepper. On the palate this wine is solid and deep, full bodied, with velvety tannins. The finish is long, balanced and rich.

The vineyards for this wine are located between 300 and 350 meters above sea level, and stretch across the hillside with varying exposures. The soils are characterized by a clayey-silty surface with deep layers of red sands and marls on a base of blue Pleistocene clays. The oldest vineyards are 60 years old and have a density of 2,300 vines per hectare while the younger vineyards (25/30 years old) are planted at 5,000 vines per hectare. The vineyards are mainly trained on the Guyot system. Yields are around 5,000 kilos per hectare.

All grapes were harvested by hand and carefully selected on the sorting table. In 2021, the Sangiovese was picked between 20 and 24 September. Fermentation took place at controlled temperatures of 24–28 °C, with daily pump-overs and délestages carried out during the early and mid stages to ensure gentle extraction. Skin contact lasted 20–21 days, followed by spontaneous malolactic fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks. The wine was then aged for 18 months, with 75% maturing in 30- and 50-hectolitre Slavonian oak barrels and the remainder in 500-litre French oak tonneaux, both new and second use. After barrel ageing, the wine was refined in bottle for a further 18 months prior to release.

Tenuta Valdipiatta, in the heart of the Vino Nobile zone, is run by Miriam Caporali, who took over from her father, Giulio Caporali, in 2002. Giulio originally purchased the Montepulciano estate at the end of the 1980s. In 2010, Miriam brought in top Bordeaux oenologist Eric Boissenot, who also consults for Châteaux Lafite, Latour, Margaux and Palmer, to aid the winemaking process.