Montepulciano d'Abruzzo should be a staple of the budget wine enthusiast's rack. You can generally pick up a bottle for less than a tenner from any supermarket or wine club (and you'll probably have to shop around to pay more than that), it goes well with food, and is a nicely approachable wine. If you find a good one, I reckon it's pretty difficult to find a better red wine for the money. So yes, I'm a fan.
By the way, it's important to make something clear: Montepulciano is a town and commune in Tuscany that produces delicious wine called Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is a grape that is grown predominantly in other provinces, like Abruzzo. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is mostly made from the sangiovese grape. Do not confuse the red wine called Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and red wines with Montepulciano d'Abruzzo on the label. Well it would be hard to confuse them really. One is ubiquitous and costs less than £10. The other is almost certainly not on the shelf of your local Asda and will not be available for less than £30...
As I mentioned, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is good with food. It's great with meaty Italian pasta and pizza. It's got a fruity sweetness to it, but is balanced with a bit of sharpness. I always think of it as tasting like slightly tart cherries, but there's a bit of plum in there too. In terms of colour, it's got a bright and vibrant pink tinge to it. Unlike sangiovese or the classic Bordeaux grapes like merlot or cabernet sauvignon, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo isn't much good for ageing. It's not going to be dreadful after a year in storage by any means, but nor is it going to get any better. That's probably why it's generally cheap.
The challenge is therefore to find the best M d'A around. Fear not, I've done a lot of the hard work for you (although I would not discourage you from doing your own research), so here is my list of the best and worst that I've tried.
Tesco
Tesco's Finest - 'La Francese' - £7.99
Linoti - £9.99
The last time I was in Tesco, both of these were on offer. Linoti was half price at £4.99 (and currently still is - in fact, it almost always is...) and La Francese was £5.49, I think. I want to make this very clear. Do not ever pay £9.99 for Linoti. I'll be clearer. Don't buy Linoti. It is very bad. It's probably been a month or two now since I tried it, but I know I had no positive thoughts about it. La Francese wasn't bad, though. Pretty good, actually. Quite a bright flavour, but definitely more plummy than cherry-y (it's a word, look it up), and I like the cherry, me. At the reduced price of £5.49 it's a very good deal. I think you can do better for £8 though.
Sainsbury's
Winemaker's Selection - £6.00
Mondelli - £6.75
Sainsbury's House - £4.50 per bottle; £12.50 per box
Mondelli was recently available at 2 for £10.00, while Winemaker's Selection was on offer at £5.00 per bottle. Mondelli is better than Winemaker's Selection. But neither is great. And, actually, Sainsbury's House Montepulciano is pretty good. It is slightly inferior to the other two, but it's a damn sight better than poxy Linoti. When baby Budget Wine Blog is born in a couple of weeks, and I find that I'm desperately poor, I will have no qualms about Sainsbury's House Montepulciano being my standard house wine. It's an absolute bargain, and much better value than then other Sainsbury's House wines I've tried (do not touch the Pinot Noir).
Marks & Spencer
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - £6.00
Not bad. Not great. Not over-priced. Not memorable.
Waitrose
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - £6.49
Not tried. Sorry. Must do better.
Morrisons
Villa Verde - £4.25
M Signature - £5.99
That's right, people. £4.25 a bottle. I'm having a glass of Villa Verde now, and it's alright actually. It needs a bit of air, because the first gulp was pretty miserable - very sharp and acidic - but an hour later it's softened up quite a bit. It's definitely at the budget end of the range though, and is acceptable rather than good. But at £4.25 it would be churlish to complain. I'll come back to you about the M Signature version, as I haven't tried it yet. I was rather distracted by the fact that its poor relation was £4.25. £4.25!!
Majestic
Poggio Civetta 2013 - £9.99 (2+ for £7.49 each)
Grifone 2013 - £7.99 (2+ for £5.99 each)
A friend came over for a Sunday of football watching and wine drinking recently, and brought this with him. This was the first wine we tried, so my memory of it is a little vague, but I know that I enjoyed it a lot more than the Dolcetto (Italian for 'little sweet one' - a red wine from Piedmonte in Northern Italy, that's probably a tiny bit too sweet for me) we opened afterwards, and also better than the 2012 Lussac St Emillion we opened after that. But not the best. For £7.49, it's pretty good, and no-one should ever pay the single bottle price at Majestic. The Grifone isn't good, though, and you can do better for £5.99.
Laithwaites
Fantini Montepulciano 2013 - £10.99 (£9.89 when buying a 12 bottle mixed case)
The priciest of the bunch, and with some reason. Very nice. Smooth, silky and beautifully cherry-y. One of the better reds in its price range that Laithwaites offer.
But the winner is...:
Averys / Telegraph Wine Club
Averys Montepulciano d'Abruzzo IGT Abruzzo 2013 - £6.99
This might not be quite as good as the above, but this costs less than £7. And it's delicious. More cherry than plum going on here. Lovely bouquet to it, and there's depth to the flavour. I got this as part of an Italian selection mixed case and it was the clear highlight in a mix including the aforementioned Dolcetto, an Orvieto and a Gavi (and I love Gavi). Averys ran out of stock shortly after I discovered it and I was gutted. But it's now back. And not only that, you can get 6 bottles of it in a mixed case with 6 bottles of a Pays d'Oc Viognier for £86.88. I'm all over that deal.
Coming soon.....
I have received a recommendation for a Pinot Noir at £9.99 from a reliable source. And an even more reliable wine critic agrees. I am aghast, yet optimistic. Watch this space...
By the way, it's important to make something clear: Montepulciano is a town and commune in Tuscany that produces delicious wine called Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is a grape that is grown predominantly in other provinces, like Abruzzo. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is mostly made from the sangiovese grape. Do not confuse the red wine called Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and red wines with Montepulciano d'Abruzzo on the label. Well it would be hard to confuse them really. One is ubiquitous and costs less than £10. The other is almost certainly not on the shelf of your local Asda and will not be available for less than £30...
As I mentioned, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is good with food. It's great with meaty Italian pasta and pizza. It's got a fruity sweetness to it, but is balanced with a bit of sharpness. I always think of it as tasting like slightly tart cherries, but there's a bit of plum in there too. In terms of colour, it's got a bright and vibrant pink tinge to it. Unlike sangiovese or the classic Bordeaux grapes like merlot or cabernet sauvignon, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo isn't much good for ageing. It's not going to be dreadful after a year in storage by any means, but nor is it going to get any better. That's probably why it's generally cheap.
The challenge is therefore to find the best M d'A around. Fear not, I've done a lot of the hard work for you (although I would not discourage you from doing your own research), so here is my list of the best and worst that I've tried.
Tesco
Tesco's Finest - 'La Francese' - £7.99
Linoti - £9.99
The last time I was in Tesco, both of these were on offer. Linoti was half price at £4.99 (and currently still is - in fact, it almost always is...) and La Francese was £5.49, I think. I want to make this very clear. Do not ever pay £9.99 for Linoti. I'll be clearer. Don't buy Linoti. It is very bad. It's probably been a month or two now since I tried it, but I know I had no positive thoughts about it. La Francese wasn't bad, though. Pretty good, actually. Quite a bright flavour, but definitely more plummy than cherry-y (it's a word, look it up), and I like the cherry, me. At the reduced price of £5.49 it's a very good deal. I think you can do better for £8 though.
Sainsbury's
Winemaker's Selection - £6.00
Mondelli - £6.75
Sainsbury's House - £4.50 per bottle; £12.50 per box
Mondelli was recently available at 2 for £10.00, while Winemaker's Selection was on offer at £5.00 per bottle. Mondelli is better than Winemaker's Selection. But neither is great. And, actually, Sainsbury's House Montepulciano is pretty good. It is slightly inferior to the other two, but it's a damn sight better than poxy Linoti. When baby Budget Wine Blog is born in a couple of weeks, and I find that I'm desperately poor, I will have no qualms about Sainsbury's House Montepulciano being my standard house wine. It's an absolute bargain, and much better value than then other Sainsbury's House wines I've tried (do not touch the Pinot Noir).
Marks & Spencer
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - £6.00
Not bad. Not great. Not over-priced. Not memorable.
Waitrose
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - £6.49
Not tried. Sorry. Must do better.
Morrisons
Villa Verde - £4.25
M Signature - £5.99
That's right, people. £4.25 a bottle. I'm having a glass of Villa Verde now, and it's alright actually. It needs a bit of air, because the first gulp was pretty miserable - very sharp and acidic - but an hour later it's softened up quite a bit. It's definitely at the budget end of the range though, and is acceptable rather than good. But at £4.25 it would be churlish to complain. I'll come back to you about the M Signature version, as I haven't tried it yet. I was rather distracted by the fact that its poor relation was £4.25. £4.25!!
Majestic
Poggio Civetta 2013 - £9.99 (2+ for £7.49 each)
Grifone 2013 - £7.99 (2+ for £5.99 each)
A friend came over for a Sunday of football watching and wine drinking recently, and brought this with him. This was the first wine we tried, so my memory of it is a little vague, but I know that I enjoyed it a lot more than the Dolcetto (Italian for 'little sweet one' - a red wine from Piedmonte in Northern Italy, that's probably a tiny bit too sweet for me) we opened afterwards, and also better than the 2012 Lussac St Emillion we opened after that. But not the best. For £7.49, it's pretty good, and no-one should ever pay the single bottle price at Majestic. The Grifone isn't good, though, and you can do better for £5.99.
Laithwaites
Fantini Montepulciano 2013 - £10.99 (£9.89 when buying a 12 bottle mixed case)
The priciest of the bunch, and with some reason. Very nice. Smooth, silky and beautifully cherry-y. One of the better reds in its price range that Laithwaites offer.
But the winner is...:
Averys / Telegraph Wine Club
Averys Montepulciano d'Abruzzo IGT Abruzzo 2013 - £6.99
This might not be quite as good as the above, but this costs less than £7. And it's delicious. More cherry than plum going on here. Lovely bouquet to it, and there's depth to the flavour. I got this as part of an Italian selection mixed case and it was the clear highlight in a mix including the aforementioned Dolcetto, an Orvieto and a Gavi (and I love Gavi). Averys ran out of stock shortly after I discovered it and I was gutted. But it's now back. And not only that, you can get 6 bottles of it in a mixed case with 6 bottles of a Pays d'Oc Viognier for £86.88. I'm all over that deal.
Coming soon.....
I have received a recommendation for a Pinot Noir at £9.99 from a reliable source. And an even more reliable wine critic agrees. I am aghast, yet optimistic. Watch this space...