Marramiero Inferi Riserva Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2019

Marramiero “Inferi” Riserva Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2019 with grilled burgers  

Midweek casual dinner, we grilled out burgers and opened this moderately priced easy drinking Reserve Italian Red Wine from Montepulciano on the east coast of central Italy. 

This is from the town of Rosciano, a comune in the Province of Pescara in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Rosciano, is known as the ‘Town of Wine and heart of the Terra dei Vestini’, Ofena.

Wine from here is produced under the jurisdiction of the wine region Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Terre dei Vestini DOC. 

Not as rigorous as or restrictive as Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG),  the highest designation for Italian wines, while the Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC), has less strict guidelines, there are still multiple criteria required to ensure quality. DOC wines are regulated for not just the type of grape and where they are grown, but also harvest yields, alcohol levels and the use of barrels

This is made in accordance with DOC regulations which require from 90-100% Montepulciano sourced grapes, with the permission to add the remaining 0-10% from other local varieties, grapes cultivated entirely or partially in 20 municipalities in the Pescara province, including Capelle sul Tavo, Catignano, Moscufo, Penne, Città Sant'Angelo, Loreto Aprutino and Montesilvano.

The Marramiero estate vineyards are located along an old sheep trail extending from the peaks of Gran Sasso, through the rolling hills of the Masseria Sant’Andrea, overlooking the “Bella Addormentata” and Maiella massifs, where it borders the Gran Sasso National Park, not far from and down to the Adriatic Sea, and less than two hours from Rome. 

This label is sourced from the Masseria Sant’Andrea vineyard located in the heart of Abruzzo on a summit 270 meters above sea level. The estate has been operated the by Marramiero family since the beginning of the last century. They cultivate the indigenous varietals Montepulciano and Trebbiano, as well as a few other international varietals.

Under the direction of proprietor Dante Marramiero, after a careful selection of existing rootstocks in the sixties and seventies, they planted new vineyards to expand production. Then, in the early nineties,  Dante Marramiero built a new modern winery, incorporating modern technology with traditional agricultural methods.

Marramiero "Inferi" Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Terre dei Vestini, Abruzzo, Italy 2019

This Montepulciano wine is a tribute to Dante Algihieri. The label is a Scene from Dante Alighieri’s Inferno part of his Divine Comedy. 

The "Inferi" is Marramiero's reserve Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and is produced in limited quantities with great care, from selecting only the best grapes from the oldest vines to the long maturation period of over three years in stainless steel, oak casks and bottle, ageing of at least 14 to 18 months in French and Slavonian oak casks with the following refinement in the bottle to complete its maturity.

The result has been to tame Abruzzo's Montepulciano grape, striving to infuse it with more elegance and style by refining the aging process thereby softening the wine's slightly harsh character.

Distributor’s notes - This Montepulciano d'Abruzzo has ruby red color with dark red sparkling reflections, its intense and vanilla speckled fragrance, its persistent, warm, rich and harmonious taste make it at the same time a distinguished and a leading wine.

Vin Chicago says of this wine - Vibrant layers of violet, clove, dried thyme, singed rosemary, rose petal, cinnamon, cedar, butterscotch and vanilla just keep coming as this densely fruited red lingers long on the palate.

Combining traditional winemaking wisdom with a dose of modern technology, Marramiero spares no expense on this one. Optically sorted fruit receives precise stainless steel fermentation and maceration followed by extended maturation in barrique. Aged for a similar amount of time as Brunello and Barolo, Inferi is held back until it is ready to drink.

Winemaker Notes: From a vine of considerable elevation in terms of structure and body comes Inferi, a red wine produced from Montepulciano d'Abruzzo grapes, in limited quantities. The aging is carried out for at least 14/18 months in French and Slavonian oak barrels, the maturation is completed with the refinement. Its deep ruby red color with garnet reflections shines to the eye. The sense of smell rejoices for its intense and varietal aromas, with sweet vanilla notes, its intense persistent, warm, full-bodied and harmonious flavor, offer a charismatic wine. Its qualities can be fully enjoyed by combining it with refined truffle-based first courses, together with red meats, game, aged cheeses and cured meats. 

Bright ruby colored, medium full bodied, rather tight and structured, vibrant, deep, rich black cherry fruits show notes of bittersweet chocolate, tangy cinnamon and clove spices, and hints of herbs that emerges on the moderate finish.

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4666728

https://chicago.vinchicago.com/wines/Marramiero-Inferi-Montepulciano-d-Abruzzo-Riserva-2019-w8687741x0

https://x.com/unwindwine

Masciarelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

Vintage Masciarelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and Carpineto Poggio Sant' Enrico Toscana at Italian Village Business Dinner

We had a mid-week business dinner with my team and a key partner visiting from overseas. We dined at our regular dinner meeting site Italian Village Chicago, as I wrote in a recent blogpost.

While my staff pokes fun at me for being such a creature of habit, our guests don't know any better and are well served by the experience. Wine Director Jared Gelband took good care of us as usual with a couple exemplary wines suited to the occasion and to our dinner selections.

The depth of the Italian Village cellar, with over ten thousand bottles, allows them to hold and serve a wine that is going on ten or beyond twenty years of age, at or near its prime drinking window, as opposed to turning their inventory and serving wines early and young.

Normally, as I did at another business dinner the next evening, I would take the opportunity to taste several wines, ordering a different wine with each bottle. Tonight, contrary to my usual practice, this was so good, we drank three bottles of the same label.

Gianni Masciarelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva Villa Gemma 2011 

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is made from the Montepulciano wine varietal grape in the Abruzzo region of east-central Italy, not to be confused with Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, the Tuscan wine made from Sangiovese  grapes. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo was classified as Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) in 1968. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is one of the most widely exported DOC wines in Italy.

Founded in 1981, Masciarelli and its wines have become a standard-bearer for Abruzzo. Since the age of 22, producer  Gianni Masciarelli has dedicated his life to his home of Abruzzo and its native grape varieties to produce world-class wines. He focused on intense rigorous vineyard management, reducing yields, working organically, thereby greatly increasing fruit quality.

In the winery, he adopted new conventions of gently and precisely handling fruit, and introducing French barriques to add depth and complexity to his wines, resulting in better integration of tannin. The work of Gianni and his wife Marina Cvetic in the vineyards and the winery has been rewarded with 29 Tre Bicchieri and they are today recognized as a groundbreaking and iconic winery in Italy.

Started in Gianni Masciarelli's grandfather's basement, Villa Gemma highlights the best of Abruzzo, showcasing the terroir of the region and the Montepulciano grapes of Abruzzo.

Villa Gemma Montepulciano d'Abruzzo produces powerful, intense wine of character and complexity, with deep fruit and complex earthy and spicy secondary characteristics that represent the highest achievement of the potential from the Montepulciano grape in Abruzzo.

This wine is produced from a single designated site in Montepulciano, from the Colle Cave vineyard in Chieti, the vineyard directly behind the house of Gianni's grandfather, and where his grandfather first started making wine in 1930. This terroir of the steep-sloped site consists of limestone, clay and gravel, and the historic traditional pergola vine training has been replaced by the modern day French Guyot training system.

This is the winery’s flagship label, produced from 100% Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. It embodies all the style and taste of the winemaker Gianni Masciarelli in an austere and complex Montepulciano D’Abruzzo Villa Gemma that represents a perfect interpretation of Abruzzo’s most noble grape, now fairly acknowledged in the world map of viticulture that counts.

Dark blackish garnet colored, full bodied, intensely structured, rich, complex, powerful yet graceful at the same time, ripe black and red fruits with hints of anise and toasted nut and oak, the tannins are restrained and silky smooth on the polished and elegant finish. 

RM 93 points.  

James Suckling rated this wine 94 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2321957

@MasciarelliVini 

Our second wine of the evening was this Toscano IGT Sangiovese. 

Carpineto Poggio Sant' Enrico Toscana IGT Sangiovese 1999

As I write this, I reached back to Jared to make sure I had the correct label. Even though I saved the cork for reference, it mentioned the producer and Appodiati which is their name for their Single Vineyard Collection. 

Carpineto Single-Vineyard-Collection wines are only produced in great vintage years. The vineyards are selected based on the vintage results showing exceptional characteristics, which fully exemplify and glorify the terroir - the microclimatic characteristics of each area. The wines are crafted for very long ageing and are bottled without undergoing any kind of treatment. They are released only after a minimum of 5 years of bottle ageing.

This is 100% Sangiovese sourced from the Poggio Sant’Enrico Piccolo vineyard that was planted in 1978.

Ironically, as I researched this further, I noted that we drank the exact same label a year ago, almost to the date, with my same leadership team.

Tonight's experience was consistent with my tasting notes of a year ago when I wrote: 

"At nineteen (now twenty) years of age, this is at the apex of its drinking window but not likely to improve with further cellaring, rather more likely to start to diminish from here forward. '

"Dark, deep, blackish-ruby colored, full bodied with firm backbone of bold, intense black berry and ripe plum fruits, notes of black pepper, hints of smoke, leather and subtle vanilla with a long lingering supple tannin finish."

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=101164
 
https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2018/08/italian-village-chicago-for-reliable.html

www.carpineto.com