Valle Reale San Calisto Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2005
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Parker
Robert
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San Calisto is Valle Reale's flagship wine. This muscular yet refined wine is made from 100% Montepulciano grown in the San Calisto parcel, the oldest plot in the Valle Reale estate. Located within one of Italy's most beautiful national parks, and surrounded by the Gran Sasso mountain range. This unique vineyard benefits from the high elevation, a wide diurnal temperature range, lots of cool, breezy ventilation and limestone rich soils.
Deep, ruby-red in color, San Calisto offers layered aromas of ripe blackberries and crushed black cherries, followed by spicy notes of cassis, leather and dried herbs. Its excellent structure is perfectly complimented by a silky, rich mouthfeel and a long, persistent finish. San Calisto is excellent with sharp cheeses, barbecued ribs, lamb, filet mignon or steak au poivre.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo San Calisto saw a fairly long maceration of 25 days followed by 24 months in 100% new French oak barrels. The wine blossoms on the palate with an intense floral quality that is followed by layers of blueberries, spices, mint and sweet oak. The finish is long, pure and refined. This is an especially exuberant, richly-textured Montepulciano to enjoy over the next few years. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2015.
Valle Reale is one of my favorite properties in Abruzzo. These rugged terrains located inside one of Italy’s national parks routinely yield wines of notable character. Consulting oenologist Carlo Ferrini oversees wine making.
Other Vintages
2007-
Parker
Robert
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Parker
Robert
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Parker
Robert
Valle Reale was founded in 2000 with the goal of producing world-class wines. Working primarily with the Montepulciano varietal, the Pizzolo family strives to make wines that highlight the grape’s intrinsic qualities: strength, exuberance, vitality, color, elegance, balance and depth. The process begins with the careful selection of clones that are best suited to Valle Reale’s soil and climate, and therefore best express the distinct characteristics of the varietal. Their success is evident in the young, vibrant DOC base wine, and even more so in the cru, a new benchmark for Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Located in the green heart of Abruzzo, Valle Reale’s vineyards are situated inside one of Italy’s most beautiful national parks. This is a wild paradise, with deep gorges carved by glaciers, crystal-clear springs and a diverse array of flora and fauna. Valle Reale is one of the few wine-producing estates in this area of pristine beauty. The topography and climate of this part of Abruzzo is completely different from the rest of the region and unique within central Italy. The vineyards have thin soils rich in limestone, with a light base of clay and sand. The proximity to the Gran Sasso mountain range, and the altitude of the estate itself, create wide fluctuations in temperature between day and night. The grapes grown at Valle Reale take advantage of constant cool breezes that ensure good ventilation and minimize humidity — ideal for the development of fine aromas. Perfect ripening temperatures are reached only in late fall when the first snow whitens Mount Morrone. The geographic and climatic peculiarities of this area are reflected in the wines, which are characterized by the trademarks of fully mature fruit: fresh, elegant perfume and aromatic complexity.
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.