Leone d’Oro Vino Nobile di Montepulciano – I Smell Bacon!!

90% Prugnolo Gentile (Sangiovese) and 10% Canaiolo from Montepulciano, Italy.

SRP of around $30 and available for as low as $19.

From the bottle:

“Order Sons of Italy in America in collaboration with Votto Vines Importing and Vecchia Cantina is proud to present this hand selected Italian wine. Created from handpicked grapes, this wine represents the best of Italian tradition, quality and excellence.

13.5% Alcohol”

This wine is a special blend for “The Sons of Italy”, which is a society for Italian immigrants which started in 1905. It is the oldest and largest Italian-American organization in the U.S. The Leono d’Oro (Golden Lion) is the official symbol of the organization.

My first thought upon opening the 2008 Leone d’Oro Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Figli d’Italia was “Holy Bacon!” This wine has succulent aromas of smoked meat, tobacco and very ripe dark fruit packed into a powerful bouquet. Tasting the wine immediately after opening again showed lots of flavorful bacon notes. After a little air those bacon notes subsided a bit both in the bouquet and when tasting. Quite simply this is an excellent wine that is smooth and savory with deep integrated tannins. The finish is very dry and long with lots of tart fruit followed by lingering tobacco notes. Day 2 was even a little better with more fruit coming through.

Highly drinkable now, but I think this wine has the potential to hit a 10 on our Taste rating in a few years — hopefully I can restrain myself from drinking the rest of my bottles to find out!

See a listing of local retailers selling this wine here.

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