Fattoria del Cerro is a winery, restaurant, and hotel near Montepulciano, which is on the eastern end of Tuscany. They specialize in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano vineyards, and is the largest private estate producing Vino Nobile. The grounds are beautiful, and tasting wine at this vineyard is one of life’s great pleasures.
All Vino Nobile di Montepulciano are made from the prugnolo gentile grape, which is a clone of Sangiovese. We’ve tasted several wines from Fattoria del Cerro, and two appear on our list of 20 under $20 bargain red wines for 2013. The regular Vino Nobile di Montepulciano D.O.C.G. can be found at $15 to $20, and often appears on restaurant wine lists at about $40. We love the striking up-front cherry, wild herbs and spice flavors of this smooth wine, with a nice elegant finish for a wine of this price. This wine leaves a mouthwatering impression, with a nice balance of acid and tannins. The Riserva Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva D.O.C.G., and the single vineyard selection Vino Nobile di Montepulciano “Antica Chiusina” D.O.C.G. are quite a bit pricier (about $60), but does raise the bar with more intense and lingering fruit flavors.
We’ve also added the Chianti Colli Senesi from Fattoria del Cerro as one of our outstanding bargains – this is a lighter, but more fragrant red wine that is very easy to drink. For a light wine, it has a very vivid ruby red color with slight purplish hues. When drinking this beauty, think black cherry and a delicate balsamic finish.
The winery exports plenty of wine, so you should be able to find it in most larger wine stores – most certainly these wines are available through on-line stores. The 2010 and 2011 versions are about equal in quality. These are worthy wines to drink every day, and can sit in the cellar for 3-5 years – they’ll only get better.
