More Marvels from Montevertine
Dateline: 05/11/97
At Vinitaly, Italy's major wine show, there was a sign outside
Montevertine's booth: WE ARE
SOLD OUT! This didn't keep
people from coming in, and indeed the stand was packed throughout the show. I
stopped in Friday morning to say hello to Martino, Sergio Manetti's son (Sergio was surrounded).
"We're only putting out a couple of wines per day," he said, and held up a bottle of something new. "This is Ambra Dolce." I nodded and he poured. Ambra Dolce is a white wine, made from dried grapes, but that's where its resemblance with Vinsanto ends. It has an extraordinary nose, with flowers, buttery fruit, and nuts, complemented by heady vanilla and lots of honey. On the palate, after an initial burst of sweetness it's surprisingly dry, almost austere, and quite interesting - there's a fair amount of fruit balanced by wood tannins and vanilla, and a clean nutty finish.
Martino grinned. "It was supposed to be sweet," he said, "but three years in barriques dried it out completely." The wine is made primarily from Trebbiano and Malvasia, with 20% Sangiovese, fermented in bianco - off the skins, and is only made in good years: the vintages produced to date are 89, 90, 94 and 95. No 96. Production is quite low: about 2,300 liters (less than 2,000 bottles) of the 1995 vintage were made. If you come across a bottle, try it. It's intriguing and absolutely atypical.
On Monday morning I stopped in again at the stand to taste the 1994 vintage of Le Pergole Torte, Montevertine's flagship wine. 1994 wasn't a spectacular year, but this wine is. A deep, pigeon blood ruby red, on the nose it has a wondrous mix of black currents and wildfruits, dried cherries, spice and vanilla. On the palate it's luscious and well balanced, with fantastic fruit. The tannins are already smooth and well rounded, though they will need more time to reach perfection. The finish is clean, warm, and extremely persistent. Again, if you want a wonderful treat, taste this wine. However, if you're patient you'll be well rewarded - though it's superb now it's still young, and it can only improve with time.
Enjoy!
Tasting Notes for the 1995 vintage.
Good food & Drink,
Kyle Phillips
