David’s ‘Everyday Italian Wine’ - 1
Each Saturday, David Brenner of Villasfor2 in Abruzzo selects a delicious, top-value 'Everyday Italian Wine’ for you to try at home - or enjoy on your Abruzzo vacation !
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. Cantina Miglianico. 2006
We've already featured an introduction to Abruzzo wines, but I'd feel a little bit disloyal if I started this regular weekly wine blog with anything other than my favourite everyday Abruzzo red.
Montepulciano is by far Abruzzo's most widely-grown red-wine grape. Don't confuse it with 'Vino Nobile di Montepulciano' from Tuscany. That's made with the Sangiovese grape and is an altogether different wine. 
But just to be awkward, 'Montepulciano d'Abruzzo' can contain up to 10% Sangiovese (and there'll be more on what that's like in an upcoming blog) but what you're getting in this bottle from Cantina Miglianico is 100% Montepulciano.
This is an uncomplicated, everyday wine to drink young, that's fantastic value at around €2. The wine's not barrel-aged, so it retains the absolute pure clarity of the Montepulciano grape, cherry-red in the glass; 
red fruit with hints of ripe plums and raspberries - and a surprisingly long finish - in the mouth. On a hot summer's day, it'll take an hour or so in the fridge happily in its stride.
Miglianico recommend you drink this Montepulciano d'Abruzzo with red meat or game. I'd add pasta with meat or tomato-based sauces. And it'd pretty good with barbecued spicy Abruzzo sausages too.
At A Glance…
- This week's featured wine: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
- Vintage: 2006
- Producer: Cantina Miglianico
- Designation: DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata - the equivalent to France's 'Appellation Controlee')
- Grape: 100% Montepulciano
- Strength: 12% vol
- Closure: artificial cork
- This bottle cost: €2.09
Cantina Miglianico
Founded in the early 1960s, the Cantina sources its grapes from hundreds of small growers around the town of Miglianico in Abruzzo's Chieti province. Miglianico - which also boasts Abruzzo's best golf course - is a few miles south of Pescara near the Adriatic coast.
In addition to its everyday ranges of Montepulciano, Trebbiano (white) and Cerasuolo (rose), Cantina Miglianico also produces a couple of barrel-aged - and very highly-rated - Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and interesting Montepulciano/Cabernet Sauvignon and Montepulciano/Merlot blends.
Find out more about Cantina Miglianico here.
(Click on pictures in text for larger images)
Next week: Vernaccia di San Gimignano from Tuscany - a favourite white wine from the heart of Chianti-country for you to try at home - or on your Abruzzo vacation !
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