Azienda Agricola Binomio Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva 2016
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Deep dense intense ruby red colour, with a purple viscous rim. Intense nose with ripe blackberry, wild strawberry and spices. Powerful and expansive on the palate, with ripe tannins and great balance. Round and fresh ending, long-lasting, with aromatic persistence.
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Binomio means two names and refers to the partnership between Stefano Inama (Inama Azienda Agricola) and Sabatino di Properzio (Fattoria La Valentina) who first met at Prowein in Dusseldorf in 1997. A friendship was born, along with the idea of producing a great Montepulciano d’Abruzzo together. The vision was to create a compelling wine with mature tannins, ready to be drunk just after opening.
The project arose from the common passion the two producers had for this terroir: Abruzzo is “strong but gentle”: an extremely charming region. Abruzzo is located in central Italy and stretches from the heart of the Apennines to the Adriatic Sea. Two mighty mountains overlook the territory: the “Maiella” and the “Gran Sasso”. They are beautiful national parks, and the tallest summits on the Appennines. Not far away, the Adriatic coast hosts fabulous seafood dishes like the “brodetto di pesce”. History bestowed extraordinary villages to this region, like L’Aquila, Sulmona, Pacentro and many others. Villages lost in time and so filled with beauty.
Fattoria La Valentina and Azienda Agricola Inama developed the project during the first two vintages of ’98 and ’99, but the operation really took off in 2000 with the purchase of an extraordinary vineyard in Località San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore. This old 4.2-hectare vineyard was planted in the 1970s in a splendid position very near to the Majella National Park.
Montepulciano is the second most planted red variety in Italy after Sangiovese, though it is achieves its highest potential in the region of Abruzzo. Consistently enticing and enjoyable, Montepulciano enjoys great popularity throughout central and southern Italy as well. A tiny bit grows with success in California, Argentina and Australia. Somm Secret—Montepulciano is also the name of a village in Tuscany where, confusingly, they don’t grow the Montepulciano grape at all! Sangiovese shines in yet another Tuscan village, here making the reputable wine called Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.
A warm, Mediterranean vine-growing paradise, in Abruzzo, the distance from mountains to seaside is relatively short. The Apenniness, which run through the center of Italy, rise up on its western side while the Adriatic Sea defines its eastern border.
Wine composition tends to two varieties: Abruzzo’s red grape, Montepulciano and its white, Trebbiano. Montepulciano d’Abruzzo can come in a quaffable, rustic and fruity style that generally drinks best young. It is also capable of making a more serious style, where oak aging tames its purely wild fruit.
Trebbiano in Abruzzo also comes in a couple of varieties. Trebbiano Toscana makes a simple and fruity white. However when meticulously tended, the specific Trebbiano d’Abruzzo-based white wines can be complex and long-lived.
In the region’s efforts to focus on better sites and lower yields, vine acreage has decreased in recent years while quality has increased.