La Chiave Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2018 (Italy)

Description

• Spiced cherry
• Vanilla & hazelnut
• Subtle cocoa
• Firm tannins

"Sweetly fruited and inviting, the bouquet shows spiced cherry, plum, vanilla, hazelnut and game characters with a hint of cocoa. The palate delivers succulent fruit flavours and beautifully rounded mouthfeel, leading to a lingering smooth finish. This brilliantly priced montepulciano is flavoursome and friendly with lovely spicy complexity" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit 

“Attractively fruity, and quite rustic red with floral, spice, briar, charcuterie and dark cherry flavours supported by a backbone of fine, firm tannins. A good easy-drinking red at a very affordable price" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine

"Going back more than twenty years, Kiwi wine drinkers have been big fans of cheap and cheerful Montepulciano from Abruzzo. The wines offered exotic characters and tangy tannins, yet were altogether more concentrated and better value than the Chiantis available here at the time. This recent import is a perfect example of the style, with berry, plum and herbal aromatics, spicy fruit in the mouth and a savoury finish. On the lighter side of medium bodied, those firm, dusty tannins would be great with a rich pasta dish, or a hunk of meat. Best of all, it comes under a screwcap, a benchmark Montepulciano d’Abruzzo at a sharp price" Paul Tudor, Master of Wine

The rolling hills of the Abruzzo region in Eastern Italy are the spiritual home of Montepulciano, Italy’s 2nd most important red grape. “La Chiave” means “the key” and in this case the key to quality is that this wine has been vinified by world renowned vintners MGM/Mondo del Vino, a company at the forefront of environmental performance analysis, as well as being the first winery in Europe to embrace the EU green policy. MGM has 28 years of success as a wine exporter and has previously been awarded Best Wine Producer by Mundus Vini and Best Italian Wine Producer in the Austrian Wine Challenge.

Food Pairing: This is a bright, juicy, vibrantly tasty, unoaked and glugable “pizza-friendly” wine. We find it works best with good friends and an enormous bowl of spaghetti Bolognese