Not sure I’ve had a sangio/montepulciano before… I do love sangio/merlot blends, and this is reminiscent–but different. An amazing blend, I believe–from memory–the winemaker said about 50/50 on this one: dark, clear ruby in the glass with blue-tinted edges. It benefits from a bit of decanting, rather closed in upon opening but with air goes gloriously rich and full. The fruit in indescribable black cherry concentration, buttery while firm, deep oak nuances polish the grandeur of the berry in nasal-clogging ways, the briar and mineral laid down perfectly on edgy spice.

The mouthfeel on this one is at once extravagant and still geekily expressive. Thick and grainy on entry: a chewy solution packed chock-a-block with crazy textures and flavors. Sweet and unctuous, the top layers a placation of fruit along structural lines ethereal in its intensity–the fortifying background a shear wall of polished impenetrability. Wow. I mean–just flat-out WOW. This is the only word I can come up with to describe the way it lays on the palate and meanders down the throat. And I’m supposed to be good with words. Wow. HOW much beauty can you pack into a wine? How much redemption for concentration can you calve off into tannin and acid? Not a trace of alcohol; not a speck of chubbiness; no flab or fury; just a pitch-perfect red positively aching with deliciousness. ALL Italy. ALL beauty. ALL in. I would have called this an easy full 1% higher in alcohol–such is the fullness of its body, but the dirty little aspects building to it scream differently. This producer imports about 50% to the US, so FIND IT. It will blow your mind. Throw away all that super-Tuscan and Chianti BS and move into this.

2020 IL CONTE VILLA PRANDONE ‘Marinus’ Sangio/Montepulciano Piceno Superiore DOP Italy 14.0

https://ilcontevini.it/