Fattoria La Valentina "Spelt" 2022 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva

A Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva from Fattoria La Valentina, made from single-variety Montepulciano grapes picked from vines up to forty years old. The wine macerates and ferments for about three weeks in steel vats. It then ages for 16 months, partly in 25 hl oak casks and partly in new and second-passage barriques, followed by a final rest in the large oak casks and a year in bottle before release. The colour is a slightly translucent ruby. The nose shows juniper and pink pepper over ripe dark fruit, plum and cherry jam, with liquorice, quinine and tobacco. The palate is soft and savoury, with present but polished tannin, and the finish is balsamic.