September the month of budgets and new resolutions. We abandoned our routine for some free time, relaxation and our holidays. And once back to everyday life and normality, you come to terms with what was life before and what you want to change in the future.
September has always been a time of new beginnings. Even in the world of wine, it is harvest time. The fruits of a whole year of hard labour are harvested, and the winemakers know that from this important moment onwards their nectar of the Gods will come to life.
Temperatures also begin to drop, and the typical summer heat makes room for a cooler and more pleasant climate that also makes you want to start uncorking some nice red wine and combine it with more structured dishes.
I chose to open the September dances with an institution from Abruzzo, and from all of Italy, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. And for the occasion I chose the version produced by Rosarubra, an elegant and refined wine that retains a decisively persuasive aura of taste.
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Doc vintage 2017
100% Montepulciano d’Abruzzo grapes harvested slightly over-ripe strictly by hand. The vine-yards are located in Pietranico (PE). After macerating with the skins for about 15 days, the vinification process takes place in steel vats and then the malolactic fermentation follows. Subsequently it refines 10 months in oak barrels and another 6 months in the bottle.
Tasting Notes
In the glass it has an intense ruby red colour with a rich and complex olfactory range that is revealed as it rests in the glass. It opens immediately to notes of ripe red pulped fruit, wild cherry, plum, blackberry, and then turns to more floral aromas of rose and violet and closes on spicy, cocoa and tobacco hints. The palate is full and satisfying. Complex structure and silky tannins that envelop a warmth that is felt without ever being invasive. Excellent softness and long persistence for a wine of extreme elegance and class.
A deep wine, full of accents and nuances. A long-lived wine that can give satisfaction immediately but also in 10 years time, if left to rest properly in the cellar, to appreciate its potential even after some aging.
Perfect to be enjoyed alone or in company, it is a sublime companion for important gastronomic combinations such as braised meats, game, aged cheeses or complex first courses such as fettuccine with meat sauce. But Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Rosarubra knows how to enchant the senses even if drunk by it’s self, in meditation, perhaps enjoying it bucolically under a tree, or in front of a fireplace.
Go to the wine sheet.