Wine of the week – 2011 Rosso di Montepulciano, Dei

by Charles Lea

Dei Vineyard

We are prompted this week by the lovely note from David Williams in The Observer into making this our wine of the week:-

2011 ROSSO DI MONTEPULCIANO Dei  £12.95 single bottle, / £11.95 ‘case’ price

‘Trying this bottle at a recent tasting of wines made from one of a trio of my favourite red grape varieties – sangiovese, nebbiolo and pinot noir – put on by London indie merchant Lea & Sandeman, I scrawled a note saying it “positively sings”. Googling the producer later that evening, it turns out that Maria Caterina Dei, the winemaker and driving force of this estate in the Tuscan countryside, was once a professional opera singer. Coincidence? Well probably, and anyway what does it even mean to say that a wine “sings”? I suppose I meant that this red, made from the Chianti grape sangiovese (or prugnolo gentile, as it’s known in this part of Tuscany), has a vibrancy of aromatic cherry fruit and a lively, uninhibited juiciness that fills you with joy.’

 Caterina Dei

Our own note is very similar!

‘This is cracking stuff. Pure, elegant and so bright and vibrant. A perfect example of what can be done here in the beautiful vineyards around historic Montepulciano – but at a fraction of the price of the Vino Nobiles. Spicy with glossy black fruit and some red notes of cooked cherry, this is delicious, very Italian drinking, at a very sensible price.’