2016 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Brunellesco Winery

This dry red Italian wine was so good, I wanted to learn the language. Montepulciano grapes are grown in the mountains of central Italy, so if your reference is Tuscany, go east and up to get there. You can smell the earth of the high hills as you raise the glass. The Italian wine police put subtitles on wines to designate regional grapes. Look for " Denominazione di origine controllata" on the label somewhere to find this one. Its worth it. It has deep color, very soft tannins and a great balance of flavors. I had half a glass before eating and enjoyed it very much. With food, the other half of the galss softened and didn't compete with the meal. This one is a team player. Brunellesco put a synthetic cork in the bottle. I think you could leave this wine on the shelf for a few years, but the synthetic cork may limit you to 4 or 5 years. Maybe they want you to drink it while its young. If I have to learn to say,"Montepulciano d'Abruzzo," I might as well go all the way and add, "è buonissimo"