Dusty dried cherries, currants and florals, crushed stone and a lifting hint of smoke all waft up from the 2017 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. It’s silky and elegant in feel, casting ripe red berries and saline-minerals across the palate, slowly saturating the senses with a tug of grippy tannins. This tapers off with a perfumed coating of red florals and dried berries. I expect the 2017 to have a pleasurable yet limited drinking window, needing a year or two of cellaring to come fully together, and then likely showing well for another two to three years thereafter. Of note is that production was down by 30% in 2017