First taste: Avignonesi single vineyard wines in Montepulciano

Italian wine estate Avignonesi is one of several producers seeking to re-vitalise the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG by releasing 100% Sangiovese, single vineyard bottlings. Below, Aldo Fiordelli reports on a preview tasting of Avignonesi's four 'cru' wines.

After years of detrimental confusion arising from both the quality of Montalcino and the misleading marketing of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is regaining traction by becoming increasingly focused on terroir and on the Sangiovese grape.

Under the ‘Alleanza’ label, six producers – Avignonesi, Boscarelli, Braccesca, Dei, Poliziano and Salcheto – are each releasing their own 100% Sangiovese-based cru wines; differentiated from the DOCG that permits the inclusion of other varieties.

Avignonesi has so far gone further by producing four single vineyard wines.

About Avignonesi

Conceived in 1974 and named after a member of its founding family, Avignonesi was acquired in 2009 by Virginie Saverys who has worked tirelessly to transform the estate with organic and biodynamic practices.

Saverys built a young team with some of the most talented names in Tuscany, such as Adriano Zago, consultant for biodynamic viticulture, and oenologist Matteo Giustiniani — one of the last mentees of the late professor Denis Dubourdieu — as managing director.

In less than 10 years the property doubled from 80 to 169 hectares, and in 2011 the heart of the Avignonesi vineyards shifted higher into the hills of Montepulciano – at the expense of vineyards bordering closer to Cortona.

‘We are working not only to have balanced wine, we are looking for identity,’ said Giustiniani, commenting on the project to release four single vineyard labels in autumn this year. 

About the new single vineyard wines

The soil in Montepulciano is of marine origin from the Pliocene era (3 to 5 million years ago), predominantly rich in clay with sand or limestone and a low presence of stones, with key variation across the four different sites: Stella, Banditella, Caprile and Oceano.

The Stella cru has deep, colluvial and sodic soil, rich in clay and sand with a small proportion of limestone. Here the vines have grow less vigorously due to the presence of salt, creating wines with a bright cherry character and a lower extraction of tannins.

Banditella is the most Chianti-like cru, derived from sandy clay soils, with limestone present in the form of calcium carbonate and pebbles of fluvial origin. Banditella’s wines are very floral, mostly violet, medium in body, with light and chalky tannins.

Caprile is composed of the oldest and highest trained vines. One portion is rich in clay and limestone but poor in organic matter, producing a complex wine with deep flavours of liquorice and ripe, velvety tannins with a chalky finish.

Oceano is made up of deep sodium-rich clay, rich in limestone and low in organic matter, creating wines with complexity and velvety, dense tannins.

See Fiordelli’s tasting notes and ratings

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