Gran Sasso Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC 2008 (Pre-order for April)
Pre-orders for the April shipment of Gran Sasso is now open. PLEASE order this wine seperately from all other products.
....At an Italian lunch recently, a feast actually, but that sounds like tautology, I poured a glass of Gran Sasso Montepulciano d'Abruzzo for a friend who took a sip, then another and well, he couldn't stop drinking it. Apart from complementing the food, the wine was utterly delicious. Next the thorny subject: price? What do you think the wine cost? $30, $50? Nope just $10. What value.
....You'd be hard pressed to find a better-value red that is also delicious and an absolute cracker. The Gran Sasso has plenty of juicy dark fruit, really fresh and vibrant with ripe yet persistent Italianate tannins with requisite cleansing acidity. Quite possibly the bargain wine of the year. The only downside is the synthetic closure, so not a wine for ageing, drink now. Jane Faulkner The Age A2, Saturday 10th of October
THE WINE FRONT: DOUBLE TAKE
Walsh: Well now, this is a touchdown for the importers, although I can’t imagine they are making much money on it. It smells and tastes full of fresh berries and cherries with a violet perfume but is substantially meaty with it. There’s a slight, but attractive, tartness to the flavour profile and it’s thickly textured and chewily tannic too - a great food style but you can also quaff it down solo (try not to dribble it down your chin though - messy). Dry finish completes a wine that’s absolutely spot on, not least fantastic value. Drink : 2009 - 2011 89 points Gary Walth, The Wine Front
Mattinson: As it turned out I tasted this - for the second time - with a couple of Victorian winemakers. I knew how good it was. They tasted it blind-ish and I told them that it was Italian and then I asked them to name a price. $30 to $40 they said. Well, I said, try $10 retail and while you’re at it, push your eyebrows back down because they are far too raised. Sweet-sour fruit, nice aroma, and enough chewy tannin to have it reaching up towards the roof of your mouth. It’s not a brilliant wine but it is amazing value … and, more importantly, great drinking. Drink : 2009 - 2011 90 points. Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Smooth, dark, rich and creamy, this smells and tastes more than it does: juicy bramble fruit, grippy tannins and a lovely fresh finish. Decanters Christmas 50 Wine Recommendations
The Gran Sasso vineyards are situated among the hills in the provinces of Chieti and Teramo in the region of Abruzzo while the beautiful modern winery is located in the town of Ortona. Abruzzo is located in the central eastern part of Italy on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The unique position of the vineyards allows them to benefit from the sea and mountain breezes, producing wines that are full in body and truly represent the characteristics of the region.
Valentino Sciotti is involved with a number of wineries in Puglia, Campania (he is the man behind Vesevo) and his native Abruzzi. The Gran Sasso wines are made by young winemaker Marco Flacco and display a freshness and directness of fruit that is seldom found in this region. Most Montepulciano at this price comes either from negociants buying bulk wines or from co-ops, neither of whom work as well or as closely with their growers as Valentino and his team. The grapes for this wine are grown in 15-20 year old vineyards in the production zones of Ortona, San Salvo and Pollutri. This wine is deep ruby red in colour with garnet reflections. It is clean, fresh and plummy on the nose, rich, supple and accessible on the palate. It is balanced and full-bodied with good tannins. The fresh, primary fruit characters are maximised by the fact that it does not age in oak, making it approachable and ready to drink.
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