Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2021: Vintage snapshot & 15 top picks
A hot, dry year yielding concentrated berries. But how did this translate in the wines? Michaela Morris provides a snapshot of the 2021 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano vintage.
‘It’s easy to describe 2021,’ says Maria Stella Carletti from Poliziano. ‘After March, it didn’t rain at all.’ This dramatically simple statement about the vintage conditions in 2021, is supported by data from the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano consorzio, which details that less than 100mm fell between budbreak and harvest.
Drought was coupled with high temperatures. ‘We had one week in July between 38-39°C, and it remained over 30°C for an entire month,’ continues Carletti.
Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 15 top picks from the 2021 vintage
The other piece of the puzzle was frost. On the night of 7-8 April, a frigid air mass dropped temperatures as low as -7°C on the valley floor. ‘It was an abnormal frost,’ states Boscarelli’s Luca De Ferrari, explaining that it also hit vineyards at higher elevations.
As the weeks prior were unseasonably warm, most of the vines had already woken up and budbreak was underway. As a result, up to 50% of nascent buds were damaged. The resulting low vigour of the vines combined with hot, dry conditions yielded small, concentrated berries. Grapes matured quickly, culminating in a relatively early harvest in the second half of September.
In the modest set of 30 wines at a preview in Montepulciano, Vino Nobile’s resolute tannins were on full display. Many pushed alcohol levels of 14.5%. However, top examples revealed the region’s most skilled producers – even in this challenging vintage, some managed to balance ripe fruit and high extract with commanding tannins and alcohol as well as wood. Additionally, the wines do not necessarily lack acidity. They’ll need a couple of years in the cellar and will be best over the following eight or so years.
Demonstrating different styles, Tenuta di Gracciano della Seta and Poliziano’s Asinone shine. Boscarelli has coaxed out admirable elegance, and Tenuta Trerose charms with its succulence. This year’s releases also include exciting new entries from Edoardo Maria Vannutelli and Tenuta Golo.
Some of the denomination’s top labels have yet to be presented, however, and we await the new Pieve category which sits at the top of Vino Nobile’s quality pyramid and will make its debut with the 2021 vintage next year. Early previews show promise for the wines in this category.
Michaela’s picks of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2021:
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