Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

DOCG area for red wine in the Italian region of Tuscany. The zone covers 1,100 hectares of vineyards at 250 to 600 metres above sea level on sandy or sandstone soils in the municipality of Montepulciano (province of Siena). Located 120 kilometres southeast of Florence in the upper Chiana Valley, the town is one of the most beautiful in Tuscany and is known as the "Pearl of the Renaissance". Once a year in August, the historic "Bravio delle Botti" wine barrel race takes place here, in which representatives of the eight "enemy" districts roll five quintals of wine barrels through the steep, narrow streets.

History

Montepulciano was the home of two popes and Paul III (1468-1549) preferred the wine of his home town to all others. His cellar master praised it as "perfect wine" in 1549. The origin of wine dates back to 1300, it was already famous throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. The Italian poet Francesco Redi (1626-1698) titled it the "King of Wines" in his poem "Bacchus in Tuscany", in order to provide wine for the royal court in London. Many other poets have sung his praises, and today he is also known as the "doyen of all Tuscan wines". Traditionally, the best wine was always reserved for the Pope and the Curia in the Vatican. This is also the origin of the additional or decorative epithet "Vino Nobile", the wine for the nobility, which was only used from the 18th century onwards. Today, this red wine is one of the most famous and most expensive wines in Italy.