Montepeloso A Quo Rosso Toscana IGT 2019, Italy

Blend 2019: 30% Montepulciano, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Sangiovese, 10% Marselan and 10% Alicante. Swiss born Fabio Chiarelotto has a 15-acre estate in the hills of Suvereto, which is near Bolgheri on the coast of Tuscany, or as I say, ‘On the upper shin of the boot.’ This area is one of the hottest in Tuscany and has brought about many producers bottling over-concentrated wines. Fabio however states that it is, ‘easy to produce concentrated wines in such a hot climate, but it’s much harder to achieve elegance and finesse.’ After purchasing the property in 1998 he spent eight years reshaping the vineyards, initiating biodynamic practices, and refining the blends – stating 2006 as the first vintage of the estate’s ‘mature phase’. The grapes are 100% destemmed and the wine spends only four months in second use barriques before being bottled unfiltered. Fresh, floral and beautifully lifted, the 2019 offers up a bevy of crushed berry fruit, rose petal and cinnamon, all in a mid-weight style that emphasizes freshness and energy to balance the natural lrichness of Tuscany’s Maremma. Medium in body and wonderfully translucent, the 2019 is an absolulte beauty.