Frentana. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva '1960'

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva DOC
Grape: Montepulciano

A full and intense red: smoke and spice, flint and damson; mature, soft tannins.  Balanced and delicious. 14%  

Cantina Frentana, Abruzzo producer page

What better wine to honour Frentana’s first wines than a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Riserva.  The Abruzzo classic.
The vineyards are close to the sea so constant air movements provide some relief from the heat.  The soils are clay and chalk, the vines Pergola trained* with cover crops between the rows. This is such a well thought out wine: the grapes are hand-picked later than the main crop to achieve an exaggerated fruit character, then gently pressed and macerated for 25 days in cement tanks.  The fermentation is temperature-controlled, using inoculated* yeasts.  The wine is aged in French tonneaux* for a year, then for a short time in cement tanks before being bottled.  This bottle is a fabulous design, not too heavy, but with a punt* you can lose your thumb in.