Vasche, to which Luca Virgilio's Montepulciano pays tribute, are ancient basins that were carved into the rocks around Pietranico thousands of years ago to crush grapes with feet. Although Luca does not do this, he is aware of the long history of viticulture around his winery, which was completed in 2020.
The winemakers of Abruzzo do indeed look far back into the past, but in recent years they have also become a great promise for the future. The times in which Montepulciano was over-extracted and smothered in wood or bottled as an indefinable, bulky and irrelevant banality are not over, but there are more and more winemakers who are revealing the many positive characteristics of the grape variety in the best artisanal practice.
This includes Luca Virgilio, who usually harvests his grapes at the beginning of October, transforms them into wine thanks to wild yeasts and without fermentation control, and ages them in steel tanks for a good year. Bottled unfiltered, Le Vasche Montepulciano then matures for a further year in the bottle, developing an intense and full-bodied texture and a compact structure thanks to sufficient acidity and tightly woven tannins. Profound yet lively, it integrates ripe cherries, sweet spices and dark pepper into its flavour profile.
Data sheet
Grape variety: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Vineyard: Situated in rocky territory between the Gran Sasso and Majella mountain ranges
Harvest: By hand in October
Fermentation: Spontaneous | wild yeasts
Ageing: In steel tanks
Filtration: No
SO₂: < 25mg/litre
Alcohol content: 14% vol.
Closure: Natural cork
Drinking temperature: 16-18 °C
Perfect drinking maturity: From now - 2032
Content and price per litre: 0.75 l/(€29.75/l)
All winegrowers listed on Vinonudo work with compost, organic fertiliser and natural preparations in their vineyards and refrain from using herbicides, pesticides and artificial fertilisers.
