La Braccesca, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2022

From the impossibly beautiful Tuscan hill-town of Montepulciano comes this beautiful, generous and iconic red, a truly 'noble' wine if ever there was one.

With bright red cherry, blackberry and citrus notes this wine is broad, generous and layered with integrated spices, notes of tea leaf and peach. The palate is soft palate is warming and generous, yet never soupy or thick, because of the higher acidity that Sangiovese brings, but richer than other Nobile wines because of the Merlot - perfect! With flavours of mixed Morello cherries, apricot, peach and warm vanilla spices, this is a really delicious and smooth red that is so evocative of Tuscany and the best of its wines.

Made from Sangiovese and a very small proportion of Merlot, this wine comes from a huge farm estate that is essentially divided into two plots - one heading north and east and the other to the east and south of the hill, each giving specific characteristics to the wine of colour and aromatics, structure and tannin. The Antinori family have farmed here since 1990 when the first Vino Nobile was made at the estate.

2021 was one of the most perfect vintages Tuscany has ever experienced in terms of weather - almost flawless for the ripening of grapes, especially the vineyards for Sangiovese. The harvest saw high acidity perfect sugar levels, ripe pips and gorgeously dark skins, all in perfect balance. After a traditional, gentle fermentation, the wine ages in large oak barrels of various origin that give the wine a softer texture and only a small amount of oak influence. It really is a wine that shows the breadth of generosity of its place of origin and the care that its owners bestow in its production and management.