Producer
Sabatino di Properzio’s Montepulciano is as stylish as his labels. While this may sound like a contradiction in terms for a grape more often associated with rough-and-ready country wine, Sabatino has set out to prove otherwise, using low yields, old vines and increasingly organic viticulture to wring new depths from the DOC. The winery was established in 1990, though many of the vines pre-date this by some margin.
Vineyard
Spelt comes from a selection of grapes from the estate’s main vineyard at Spoltore, called Santa Teresa, as well as some newly purchased plots in San Valentino and Scafa. The vines are planted on clayey soils between 150 and 400 metres above sea level, just inland from the Adriatic Sea, and are between ten and fifty years old. The grapes were hand-picked from the second half of October.
Winery
The must was fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks, with délestage. The wine is then racked to twenty-five hectolitre barrels and both new and used barriques, for malolactic and sixteen months’ ageing. A selection of the best barrels is then made, and the wine bottled unfiltered before a further year’s ageing in bottle.
Awards
3 Glasses, Gambero Rosso 2019
