Tenuta Tre Gemme, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Riserva, 2015, red dry wine, Abruzzo, Italy, 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points)

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During my almost 40 years as a wine lover and more than 30 years as a wine connoisseur, I have never tasted better Montepulciano d’Abruzzo-wine. It is absolutely fabulous. Bravo Tenuta Tre Gemme! That a wine from Montepulciano-grape can reach such heights like this wine is absolutely incredible. Tenuta Tre Gemme Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Riserva 2015 is a big, very complex, flavourful, fruity, concentrated and tannin rich wine. Balance between fruitiness, sweetness and acidity is absolutely incredible. The wine glass was about to explode from the aromas and flavours of the wine during the tasting. The aroma is characterized by cocoa rich dark chocolate or better to say 100% cocoa, white pepper, vanilla, cardamom, dried blue plums, ripe dark cherries, tobacco, freshly ground dark roasted coffee and cinnamon. The flavour is characterized by cocoa rich dark chocolate, tobacco, white pepper, ripe dark cherries, dark roasted coffee and sweet spices. Tenuta Tre Gemme Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Riserva 2015 will developed up to 10 years to i.e. up to 2031.

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A complex, concentrated, flavourful and tannin rich wine like this requires tasty and high-calorie food such as Gordon Ramsay's Beef Fillet Wellington served with mushrooms and Madeira sauce, and buttery mashed potatoes or with reindeer stew with chanterelles and porcinis served with fresh tagliatelle pasta or with Swedish meatballs in cream sauce served with boiled potatoes, sweetened lingonberries and pressed cucumber. It should be served at 18 to 19°C in Bordeaux glass, if possible, from Orrefors, Kosta Boda, Spiegelau or Riedel. Another option is to serve it at 16°C (when room temperature is above 20°C or outdoor temperature is above 23°C) and then enjoy it as it begins to open/grow in the glass.

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The grapes (100% Montepulciano) for the wine come from 40 years old vines from vineyards that are located at an altitude of 365 meters above sea level in the Catignano – Pescara area. The vineyards' soil consists of calcareous clay. The grapes for the wine are harvested by hand. After very careful selection in both vineyards and winery, careful destemming and pressing, the grape mass, which consists of pulp, grape skins, seeds and grape juice, is fermented/macerated in both stainless steel tanks and concrete tanks at a controlled temperature that never exceeds 29°C for fifteen days. During the first two days of fermentation/maceration, the grape juice is separated from the grape mass and poured into another tank and then poured back into the original tank where the remaining part of the grape mass remains (so-called delestage). Before the grape juice is poured back, some of the seeds are removed from the grape mass. Then every three to four days, the flowing part of the grape mass is pumped over the firmer part of the grape mass (so-called remontage) for about 10 minutes per time. After the fermentation/maceration, self-run wine is poured into other stainless steel tanks and concrete tanks. The remaining mass, which consists of pulp, grape skins and seeds, is carefully pressed to extract so-called press wine, which is then poured into a stainless steel tank and a concrete tank. Then the wines in different tanks undergo malolactic fermentation i.e. fermentation that converts the sharp malic acid in the wine into softer lactic acid. Finally, the wines from the different tanks are blended and the blended wine is aged in 3,500 litres Slavonian (Croatian) oak barrels for 9 months and after that bottled and aged for a few more months.