Avignonesi Vino Nobile 2004

Grape: 85 % Prugnolo Gentile, 10 % Canaiolo Nero, 5% Mammolo
Region: Montepulciano, Italy

Ratings: Wine Advocate: 90 points

The history of the beautiful estate of Avignonesi goes back to the most ancient in Italy. It is not known when Avignonesi’s cellars were built exactly, but there were records stating that Palazzo Avignonesi was built in the 2nd half of 16th century and it has always been the wine cellar.

In 1309 pope Clement V. transferred the papal residence from Rome to Avignon, France. In 1377, when pope Gregory XI moved the papal residence back to Rome, some noble families of Avignon left France to follow him. At that time, one of those families became known as Avignonesi – probably to simplify their foreign name. They soon separated and part of the family settled in Rome, Siena, and Montepulciano.

Today, Avignonesi takes care of 4 different estates – Le Capezzine, I Poggetti, La Selva and La Lombarda. In total the winery owns 225 hectares of land, 109 ha of it are devoted to vineyards and 3 ha of olive trees.

The grapes for Vino Nobile were picked by hand from the best-situated vineyard sites, fermented with skins for 20-25 days. The wine then aged first 18 months in large oak barrels, and then was transferred to French oak barriques for an additional 18 months. The wine is finally released to the market after 9 additional months in the bottle.

Tasting notes:
The beautiful, dark garnet red color and rich aroma of dark plums, black cherries, blackberries, and herbs. The smokey and velvety tannins are soft, it shows a beautiful expression of fruit and great balance with acidity. I would recommend to decant it, as this wine is rich and full-body, while it’s opening up slowly. This is the time to drink this vintage although the maturity will rise for at least another five years.