Montepulciano

Montepulciano is a red Italian wine grape variety that is most famously referred to by wine tasting pundits as being easily identifiable when tasted blind, due to being “simple fruity wine for simple fruity people” and for being the primary grape behind the DOCG wines Colline Teramane Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and Offida Rosso; and the DOC wines Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Rosso Conero, and Rosso Piceno Superiore.
It should not be confused with the similarly named Tuscan wine Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which is made from predominantly Sangiovese and is named for the town it is produced in, rather than for containing any Montepulciano grapes in the blend.
The grape is widely planted throughout central and southern Italy, most notably in Abruzzo, Lazio, Marche, Molise, Umbria and Apulia, and is a permitted variety in DOC wines produced in 20 of Italy’s 95 provinces. Montepulciano is rarely found in northern Italy because the grape has a tendency to ripen late and can be excessively “green” if harvested too early.
When fully ripened, Montepulciano can produce deeply coloured wines, with moderate acidity and noticeable extract and alcohol levels.
Montepulciano is late budding (making it an ideal varietal for regions that have late spring frosts) and is late ripening. It is productive (high yielding), deeply coloured, firmly structured and widely planted. It has good resistance to botrytis rot and powdery mildew. The grapes tend to be plump with thick skins. However, the skin has a fair amount of pigmented tannins and colour producing phenols that with maceration can produce either a deep ruby coloured wine or a pink Cerasuolo wine. Compared to most Italian varieties, Montepulciano has moderately low acidity and more mild (i.e. softer) than bitter edged tannins. Wine expert Oz Clarke describes Montepulciano as producing a “round, plummy and weighty red with ripe tannins, good acidity and a low price tag”. Jancis Robinson evaluates Montepulciano as a “promising variety” that produces smooth, drinkable wines that can improve for three or four years after vintage.