Tag Archives: Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

Wine of the week: Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2020

Masciarelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo bottle
Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2018/$9-$13

The long-time WC favorite offers even more value this time around

The blog has long featured red wines from Italy’s Montepulciano d’Abruzzo region. They’re almost always well made, inexpensive, and created with value in mind. Plus, they’re terriifc with food.

But this vintage of the Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo ($12, purchased, 13.5%) is even better than that. It’s not just a Hall of Fame wine, as the Masciarelli has often been, but a wine that will show up on the shortlist for the 2024 Turner cheap wine award.

That’s because this vintage – and I think the age has helped – is darker, deeper, and more interesting. Or, as my tasting notes says: “Wow.”

It’s earthy and rustic, but not heavy or off putting or too rough, as some cheap wines are. There is fresh, juicy cherry fruit, but it has that current of acidity so that the fruit isn’t cloying (as some cheap wines are). This is how to make a simple wine for every day drinking at a more than fair price.

Highly recommended, and just the thing as the weather gets cooler. So red sauces, sausages on the grill, and even something like a cherry tomatoes and gnocchi.

Imported by Vintus

Wine of the week: Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2018

Masciarelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2018/$8-$12

Once more, Italy’s Montepulciano d’Abruzzo region yields quality and value – this time from Masciarelli

Count ’em – red wines from Italy’s Montepulciano d’Abruzzo region have been been the wine of the week 10 times and several have made the hall of Fame. What does that say about the quality and value these wines deliver?

A lot, of course, as the Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2018 ($11, purchased, 13.5%) demonstrates. These wines, made in a less known region with a less known grape, are textbook examples of how to find quality cheap wine, because lesser known tends to equal value.

The Masciarelli is simple and straightforward – a trattoria wine, says the marketing blurb, and that’s spot on. Look for tart cherry fruit and maybe some berries, and even a little smokiness stuck down in the middle somewhere. It’s also more full in the mouth than many similar wines, though there is the same longish finish.

And a tip of the WC’s fedora to my old pal Carmen Castorina for reminding me about this one.

Pair this with sausages and peppers on the grill as the weather warms up, or even bratwurst and sauerkraut. I’m also thinking about chicken braised in red wine, using this as the braising liquid.

Imported by Vintus

Wine of the week: Farnese Fantini Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2018

Farnese Fantini Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Farnese Fantini Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2018/$7-$19

This Italian red is an especially good example of the value and quality available from the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo region

Chianti and its sangiovese-based compadres get most of the attention, and the Wine Curmudgeon has noted how often these wines offer quality and value.

But the red wines from Montepulciano d’Abruzzo in central Italy are, in their own way, just as compelling for those of us who want quality cheap wine and are willing to look past reputation. The Farnese Fantini is just such a wine.

This vintage of the Fantini ($10, purchased, 13.5%) isn’t quite as refined as past ones, or as some others from d’Abruzzo. Call it little more rustic, which is wine geek for old-fashioned but in a good way. But there is quality cherry fruit (not thin, not too ripe), just like so many other fine, cheap Italian red wines, and it’s balanced by a tartness common again to so many of these wines.

This is an older vintage, but the Fantini is wonderfully consistent across vintages — newer ones may not be quite as rustic, but should still be enjoyable. Serve this with almost any braised meat as winter winds down.

Imported by Empson USA

Wine of the week: Caldora Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2018

caldora Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Caldora Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2018/$10-$16

The Caldora Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is one more well-made, value-oriented Italian red

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, the red wine from central Italy, has been one of the saving graces for anyone who has been looking for quality cheap wine during the pandemic and the Trump wine tariff. The wines – and there seem to be an almost infinite number – remain well made, varietally correct, and a value.

The Caldora Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2018 ($10, purchased, 13.5%) is no exception. The various reds from the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo region, made with the montepulciano grape, are typically softer than wines made with sangiovese, which is related to it. In this, they are the quintessential weeknight spaghetti and meatballs wine.

The Caldora, though, is a touch more sangiovese in style. This means less ripe red fruit and more tart cherry fruit and more acidic than other Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. It’s almost sour — but in a pleasant way.

It needs food, and that means something a bit richer – grilled sausages and peppers, perhaps?

Imported by Gonzalez Byass

Wine of the week: Carletto Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2017

Carletto Montepulciano d'AbruzzoThe Carletto Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is a $10 Italian red that’s a step from most $10 Italian reds

The blog features a lot of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, the red wine from the middle of Italy. That’s because it’s cheap, dependable, terrific with food, and almost always well made. If the wines have a flaw, it’s that they all tend to taste more or less the same. The Carletto Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, on the other hand, is cheap and well made – but far from just another bottle of d’Abruzzo.

The Carletto Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2017 ($10, purchased, 13%) has a little more interest and heft than similar wines. Yes, it’s made with the montelpuciano grape, like the others, but it’s more balanced and more structured. Maybe it’s the age, unusual for a $10 wine, or paying more attention in the wine room.

Look for lots of cherry fruit, but also some dark spices and freshness in the back that is more than just the contrast between the fruit and the wine’s natural acidity. In this, it’s much more than spaghetti wine; serve it with something more complex and complicated, including roast lamb.

Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2022 Hall of Fame and Cheap Wine of the Year.

Imported by Arel Group

Wine of the week: La Fiera Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2018

La Fiera Montepulciano d'AbruzzoConsistency, consistency, consistency: Welcome to the La Fiera Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Italian red

One of the most difficult things about parsing cheap wine is consistency. So much cheap wine is made to hit a certain price that quality can vary greatly from vintage to vintage. Hence, a wine that is terrific one year when grapes are cheap can taste like sugar water the next when grapes are more expensive.

Fortunately, that has never been a problem with the La Fiera Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, an Italian red. Year after year – and I’ve been tasting the wine almost as long as I’ve been doing the blog – it is worth its $10 price. It may differ a bit from vintage to vintage, softer or more acidic or whatever, but it is always somewhere around Hall of Fame quality.

In this, the 2018 La Fiera Montepulciano d’Abruzzo ($10, purchased, 13%) has more structure and more oomph this vintage. That means more grip from the tannins and and the acidity isn’t as restrained. But it’s still varietally correct, with lots of cherry fruit, and it’s still fresh and enjoyable. So break out the sausage ragu.

One other note: The wine averaged 83.5 points on CellarTracker, the blog’s unofficial wine inventory software. Sigh. When will these people ever learn?

Imported by Winesellers, Ltd.

Wine of the week: Umani Ronchi Podere Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2018

Umani Ronchi PodereWines like the Umani Ronchi Podere, a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, fill the void for quality cheap wine brought on by the Trump wine tariff

Maybe it’s shopping different retailers during the pandemic. Maybe it’s retailers stocking more well-made cheap wine because of the pandemic. Regardless, the Wine Curmudgeon has been drinking even more Montepulicano d’Aruzzo than usual over the past six months.

Which is almost always a good thing. These Italian red wines, made with a lesser known grape (montepulicano) from a lesser known region (d’Aburzzo), are usually well made and terrific values. The Umani Ronchi Podere is no exception.

The Umani Ronchi Podere ($12, purchased, 13%) is classic Montepulicano d’Abruzzo. (The first two words are the producer and Podere is the name of the wine.)  That means tart cherry fruit, a minimal amount of tannins, and acidity in the back that says drink this with sausages and red sauce. And then maybe open another bottle.

This is wine for everyday drinking, something the Italians still send to the U.S. in vast quantities – and for which the WC remains quite grateful. The tariff has limited quality cheap Spanish wine, which I have depended on more and more over the years, but the Italians have more than picked up the slack.

Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2021 $10 Hall of Fame.

Imported by Vineyards Brands