Azienda Agricola Masciarelli operates 13 estates across Abruzzo totaling about 300 hectares with lots of Montepulciano vines, plus other varietals such as Trebbiano, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cococciola and one hectare of Falaghina. They also have olive groves on many of their estates and are well known for their olive oil sold under the Cvetic […]
La Valentina is a much younger producer than many of the others I’ve tasted for this series, but they produce a classic Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. They were established in 1990 and currently manage over 40 hectares. They have two vineyards in Abruzzo and the grapes for this label are from the San Valentino vineyard, about 20km from Maiella mountain […]
The next wine in our series on Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is Majolica from producer Podere Castorani. The Castorani name comes from the family of surgeon Raffaele Castorani who invented the first surgical procedure to treat cataracts and owned the property in the late 18th century. The property has since gone through different owners and the winemaking […]
The Filomusi-Guelfi family in Abruzzo, Italy are the producers of this Montepulciano. The family has been in the region since the 16th century where they have a vineyard of over 9.5 hectares. The majority of the vineyard (78%) is Montepulciano grapes. There is so much history behind the vineyards producing Montepulciano d’Abruzzo that it makes me want […]
Quattro Mani translates to mean “four hands” which supposedly represents four celebrity Italian winemakers who produce wines from indigenous Italian varietals, such as Montepulciano. I tried to find out who these “celebrities” are but I couldn’t find any info on them. If anyone knows, please post a comment. I also tried to visit the website of […]
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is often thought of as a table wine. Something that is not sophisticated and meant for casual drinking. Because of that fact it is sometimes not given the attention it deserves in production resulting in a less enjoyable product. This isn’t the case with all Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. In fact there are some very […]
The next series of wine I am tasting is an Italian varietal called Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. If you know anything about Italy, you’ve probably guessed that this varietal comes from the Abruzzo region along Italy’s Adriatic coast. And if you know your wine grapes you probably guessed that it’s made from the Montepulciano grape, which is […]
It seems as though I’ve been reviewing Cabernet Sauvignon for ages. But to tell the truth, I really don’t mind. Cabernet Sauvignon is one of my favorite varietals. It’s considered the King of wines for a reason. Strong-bodied and elegant with complexity and intensity. Who could not love Cabernet? All together, I tasted 27 different […]
G’day! Today’s wine takes us down under to South Eastern Australia as we check out the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from Alice White. We’re also getting down under $7 in price, which is always tricky. Now and then I’ll find an incredible bottle of wine for about $5, but that doesn’t happen very often. While my […]
Surprise, surprise… I’m off to Chile again to try another Cabernet Sauvignon. This one from the Maipo Valley region in Central Chile, just south of Santiago. The Maipo Valley appellation is rather small in size but well regarded as a wine growing region, particularly for Cabernet Sauvignon. Due to its reputation for producing excellent wine, […]
