VINO NOBILE DI MONTEPULCIANO – ERCOLANI AND POLIZIANO – VERTICAL TASTING

[Waiters Friend]

VINO NOBILE DI MONTEPULCIANO – ERCOLANI AND POLIZIANO – VERTICAL TASTING

G’day

A bunch of us descended on Lulu’s Little Bistro (for readers in Perth, W.A., the best new BYO in the region) for a vertical tasting of not one, but two, producers of Il Vino Nobile di Montepulciano – Ercolani and Poliziano. Mark at Lulu’s graciously created a menu of Italian dishes tailored to the wines.

From Wikipedia: Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is a red wine with a denominazione di origine controllata e garantita status produced in the vineyards surrounding the town of Montepulciano, Italy.[1] The wine is made primarily from the Sangiovese grape varietal (known locally as Prugnolo gentile) (minimum 70%), blended with Canaiolo Nero (10%–20%) and small amounts of other local varieties such as Mammolo. The wine is aged for 2 years (at least 1 year in oak barrels); three years if it is a riserva. The wine should not be confused with Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, a red wine made from the Montepulciano grape in the Abruzzo region of east-central Italy.

Although the town of Montepulciano dates back more than a couple of millennia, the name ‘Vino Nobile di Montepulciano’ only goes back to 1930.

My first encounter with Poliziano was on my first visit to the town of Montepulciano in 2014, and my first encounter with Ercolani was on my next visit in 2019. Since 2019, I have been buying both wines from here in Western Australia, as well as on my most recent to Italy in 2023. By the way, Ercolani offers free freight to most places in the world for dozens (worth 150 Euro).

The wines included the Ercolani Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva, the Poliziano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and the Ercolani Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Apostoli (a single vineyard variation of the ‘standard’ Riserva). All up, we looked at 15 wines, from 2020 to 2011. We tasted from younger to older, and the notes below are a compilation of the group’s discussion. I’ll let you know up front that there are many shared descriptors in most of the wines.

Ercolani Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2020: Crimson in colour, and bright in the glass. The nose shows dark cherry dried herbs, fresh rosemary, violets, aniseed, alongside savoury, earthy notes. The palate has juicy dark and sour cherries, hints of orange peel, powdery tannins, good supporting acid, cedar and a medium to long finish. Well balanced.


Poliziano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2020: Slightly darker in colour than the Ercolani. Violets and rosewater on the nose, along with ripe red cherries, thyme, rosemary, dried oregano, mocha and a hint of leather. There’s fresh red cherries and some blackberry on the palate, orange peel, and milk chocolate. Fine tannins, freshening acid, cedar and a medium to long finish. Well regarded by the group.

Ercolani Apostoli Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2020: Crimson colour. Less intense than the Riserva Ercolani, In addition to the fruit aromas, there’s rosemary, darker fruits, savoury characters and meaty char characters. The palate shows fresh sour cherries, orange peel and some balsamic vinegar. Tannins are chalky. The wine is softer all round than the previous two wines, and the nose and palate don’t align. Unbalanced.

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Ercolani Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2019: Crimson colour. A dusty nose, with roses / florals, sour cherry, plums, compost, a little leather, charcuterie and fly spray. The palate shows mocha, ripe dark cherries and red fruits, vanilla, aniseed, and herbs (especially bay leaf).

Poliziano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2019: Crimson colour. Dark cherry, violets and brambles on the nose, along with dried herbs, savoury notes and a touch of leather. The palate shows dark cherry and red fruits, orange peel, and a hint of mocha. There’s supporting acid, fine but grippy tannins, and a long finish. Well integrated and highly regarded by the group. One taster said “Yum!”.

Ercolani Apostoli Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2019: Crimson colour. More fragrant than the previous two wines. There’s florals and red fruits on the nose, with dried herbs, black olives and ginger nut biscuits. The palate is modest in terms of fruit, with sour cherry and menthol. Acid is zingy and a little hard, with fine drying tannins. Unbalanced overall.

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Poliziano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2018: Slightly lighter crimson colour. A richer and dusty nose, with dark cherry, mocha, a compote of dark fruits, musk, tobacco, herbs and olive tapenade. There’s a touch of Chesterfield leather on the palate, with lively racy acid, orange peel and mocha. Tannins are drying and the wine has considerable length. Overall, well balanced and well regarded by the group.

Ercolani Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2016: Crimson colour. The nose shows mocha, earth, leather, red and dark fruits, tapenade, cedar, violets, pot pourri, and lavender. The palate has juicy red fruits, especially redcurrant, washing over the tongue. A little milk chocolate, supporting acid, fine slippery tannins all lead to a reasonably lengthy finish.

Poliziano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2016: Crimson colour, slightly darker than previous wines. A perfumed elegant nose, with red fruits, blueberry, tobacco, violets, lavender and olive tapenade. The palate seems lighter bodied than previous wines, with fine tannins, freshening acid, gingerbread, and mocha / vanilla. Just medium length and a dry finish. Well regarded by the group.

Ercolani Apostoli Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2016: Purple in colour. Sour cherry, leather, dried herbs, tar, anise and menthol on the nose. The palate has tart acid, moderate tannins, dried herbs, juicy redcurrant and savoury notes. Medium length.


Ercolani Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2015: Purple colour. Violets, leather, graphite and tobacco on the nose. Savoury palate, with the fruit starting to fall away. There’s vegemite, supporting acid and drying tannins. Medium length and the wine is well into secondary development. Declining.

Poliziano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2015: Purple colour. A richer nose, with plums, red cherries, florals and garam masala. A touch a VA. Earthy palate, with stewed fruit flowing across the tongue. Some fig compote, sultanas and mocha as well. Integrated tannins and freshening acid leading to a long finish.

Ercolani Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2013: Purple colour. A moderate nose with menthol, leather, earth, milk chocolate and tobacco. On the palate, fruit is diminishing, leaving hard acid and soft tannins, and leading to a short finish. Past its prime.

Poliziano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2013: Purple colour. Similar to the Ercolani of the same vintage and showing a touch of lavender and florals. Also past its prime.

Poliziano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2011: Purple colour with some bricking on the rim. A herbal nose, with stewed fruits, raisin and cherry cola. More of the same on the palate, with stewed prunes, sultana, and leather. Good acid and grippy tannins, and reasonable length. Although the wine is declining, it was in better condition than either of the 2013s.

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It was interesting that the colour of the wines got darker with age. The opinion of the majority of the group was that the drinking windows for these wines are up to 8 years of age. Certainly, I have had Vino Nobile di Montepulciano of 20 years of age, but these have been super-premium bottlings and not the wines tasted here.

Wine of the night was the Poliziano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2019, with the Poliziano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2016 coming second.

My thanks to all who joined me for this tasting, for their comments and banter. Special thanks to Mark and Jodie at Lulu’s Little Bistro – I will be returning for any future verticals that I host.

Cheers
Allan

[Waiters Friend]

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[DaveS]

Just caught up on this, thanks for the read! I enjoyed drinking nobile in Montepulciano some years ago.