September 14, 2017 - Una delicia para terminar las vacaciones.
Explosión de fruta, ciruelas, moras, arándanos. Polvoriento, ebano, cuero sado. Terroso, con un toque de hierbas medicinales para equilibrar.
La boca es muy suave, totalmente hecha, se desliza y acaricia.
Una espectáculo de aromas, texturas, no hay que darle un segundo más de guarda.
March 5, 2017 - Had this wine with homemade dried pasta in a light basil tomato sauce. The wine held well and is drinking great. Drink now. Decant this wine one to two hours. Robust age worthy wine with rich and Lush fruit with soft tannins.
December 21, 2015 - This bottle was much fresher than my last one with no trace of the "off" aromas from which that one suffered. It was quite full bodied with fresh red and dark fruit, less fruit cake and complexity than the '01 but with more invigorating lively acidity and good backbone. It was difficult to taste the high alcohol (14.5%) but I certainly felt it. Very good.
March 23, 2015 - Inchiostro. Al naso prugna e mora sotto spirito, cacao, radice di liquirizia, lieve goudron, incenso, chiodo di garofano, sbuffi balsamici. Imponente. Bocca massiccia, molto sapida; lungo e, nella sua muscolarità, intrigante
August 1, 2014 - This one showed signs of decline particularly on the nose where cabbage notes were perceptible. On the quite full palate these notes receded behind some still vigorous and rich fruit, decent acidity and resolved tannins. The overall effect was enjoyable, if not particularly distinguished. I'm a fan of Montepulciano in Abruzzo and Marche for everyday wines but have in most cases been unconvinced by more ambitious cuvées and the effects of ageing.
August 8, 2012 - Deep youthfully colored still. On the nose, dark fruits, exotic asian spices, cardamom and some chocolate. Much more on the plush fruit side than savory. Well wooded and polished but it pulls it off and is still pleasurable in a hedonistic sense. This doesn't scream MdA, and while it lacks in individual nature, it still succeeds in being and interesting very supple, round, giving and fun wine to drink. I do not remember earlier vintages being this plush, but maybe it is me. Still at peak. A guilty, maybe less intellectually stimulating, but very pleasure wine.
June 4, 2012 - Medium intensity cherry red with ruby rim. Medium intensity nose, mint, undergrowth, moss, somewhat spicy, black pepper. Powerful attack, wide and long, fills the mouth, outstanding structure, medium-high body, still a bit astringent, it needs some more time in bottle. Endless aftertaste of high intensity with cherry memories. Very elegant.
May 28, 2012 - Very nice Montepulciano d'Abruzzo; classic fruity and earthy notes, tannins are very silky. I really enjoyed it.
June 25, 2011 - Dark, beast of a wine with black cherry flavor almost obscured by tannin and alcohol, but still an interesting wine.
March 3, 2011 - Back for another shot. I don't want to give up on it, but I'm running out of bullets. From what I remember, this is less overtly harsh than last time, so however many months it's been, there's improvement. But geez, this just has never quite come together. It's too big, too blowzy, too alcoholic for its own good, at least for my taste. Unaccountably it doesn't "knit," so you get a kind of bumpy ride with a burst of deep plum fruit, overtones of weedy varnish, and a hot unbalanced finish. All in all, after the silky, feminine '01 that I loved, this wine is just flat out disappointing, like they sold themselves out, but to what end, I can't tell.
ALERT! I kept thinking I had been unduly negative with my first impression, so I put half the bottle away for two days in the refrigerator and came back. It definitely helped, so for some reason this wine needs a lot of breath. With all the aeration it's still nothing like a knockout, but neither is it quite so mean or dis-integrated. I don't want to describe the flavors cause who knows what it's supposed to taste like two days later, but it still suffers from a somewhat bruising and unfulfilling finish.