I’m thinking about Susanna Crociani today because I was at a lunch sponsored by the Consorzio of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and I was a stand-in for her. Susanna is lovely and we have been friends since 2007 when we first met. I love her wines and am excited to try the whole range again at Vinitaly this year. Today we tasted her Vino Nobile Riserva 2010, Rosso di Montepulciano 2014 and her Vin Santo 2011. Lovely wines, characterized by their indigenous varieties: Sangiovese (Prugnolo Gentile), Mammolo and Canaiolo Nero for the reds and Malvasia, Trebbiano and Pulcinculo for the Vin Santo. I also got to try the wines from other producers who were along for the tour.

The 1988 from Carpineto was another stand-out in terms of the Riservas that we tasted as were two great Vin Santos that we tried, one from 1986 from Montemercurio

and another one from Azienda Casale. It was a nice lunch where we tasted a number of wines from different producers some well-known and others less so.

Many of the more famous producers I have met in the past but others were new to me today. In general, I thought the wines were lovely, approachable and elegant. The food was fantastic too. We were at Il Buco Alimentari . Vino Nobile di Montepulciano are wines that can age for a long time and if I had my way, I would wait to drink them but that’s not always the case. Some years, when the weather is warmer, such as 2011, they can be drunk sooner rather than later. The Rosso which spends less time in oak is quite easy to drink and can be a perfect by the glass pour. The wines tend to have good acidity which makes them great food wines. I hope these wines make a bigger splash on US wine lists in the coming years, they certainly deserve their place in sun next to their more famous Sangiovese-based cousins.