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Red Grape · Abruzzo
Italy's great everyday red - dark, soft-tannined and built for the dinner table, not the auction room.
Montepulciano (Mon-teh-pool-chee-ah-noh) is the second most widely planted red grape variety in Italy, after Sangiovese. It is cultivated all over the peninsula, especially on the Adriatic coast in the central and southern regions, and it is the grape used for one of the most popular Italian wines, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.
Clearing it up
The grape, made along the Adriatic
A place, a town in Tuscany
The anchor fact: Montepulciano the grape is genetically unrelated to Sangiovese, the grape behind Vino Nobile. DNA profiling finally separated the two after a century of confusion.
Taste · Where it sits
Forget scores out of five. Here’s Montepulciano described against grapes you already know.
Weightier than Chianti, a shade less imposing than a young Barolo.
Grippier than Pinot Noir, far gentler than Nebbiolo.
Bright enough to cut through ragu and roast lamb.
Dark, jammy fruit reads almost sweet, but the wine is dry.
Key flavours
The map
Montepulciano is full-bodied, firm tannin, mapped against other red grapes you can buy. The closer a grape sits, the more its weight and grip resemble Montepulciano.
Is this for you?
Reach for it when…
Maybe skip it if…
Serving guide
Serve at
16-18°C
Cool a touch below room temperature; too warm and the alcohol dominates.
Decant
1 hours
Tight on opening; an hour of air lets the dark fruit unfurl.
Glass
Large Balloon Glass
A wide bowl gathers the blackberry-and-violet aromatics before each sip.
Drink within
3-5 days
Re-corked and chilled, an open bottle holds for several days.
Cellar
Up to 5 years
Most are made for now; Riserva and Colline Teramane reward patience.
On the table
Start with the home-table matches that made the grape, then browse the full cuisine library.
The home match
Fat and herb-crusted roast pork against soft tannin and dark fruit.
The crowd-pleaser
Abruzzo's flatbread and cured meats echo the wine's savoury side.
The easy win
Egg pasta with a meat ragu; fresh acidity slices through.
Browse every pairing
Buy it · three to start with
A curated trio across the price range, then every Montepulciano on sale in the UK right now.
Entry · everyday
2 retailers
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
2 retailers
£10.04
Why this one: The grape at its most recognisable: juicy, soft and dependable.
The sweet spot
1 retailer
Appellation TBD
1 retailer
£12.90
Why this one: A step up in depth from a benchmark Marche producer.
Special occasion
1 retailer
Abruzzo
1 retailer
£12.95
Why this one: A single-estate bottling: the grape's more serious side.
12 of 36 bottles
2 retailers
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
2 retailers
£10.04
2 retailers
Biferno
2 retailers
£10.57
2 retailers
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
2 retailers
£12.26
2 retailers
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
2 retailers
£13.90
£15.98
2 retailers
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
2 retailers
£27.10
1 retailer
Abruzzo
1 retailer
£10.28
1 retailer
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
1 retailer
£10.28
1 retailer
Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo
1 retailer
£10.96
1 retailer
San Severo
1 retailer
£11.08
1 retailer
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
1 retailer
£11.64
1 retailer
Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo
1 retailer
£11.80
1 retailer
Appellation TBD
1 retailer
£11.99
Denominations
The appellations where Montepulciano plays a starring role.
Where it grows
Abruzzo runs from Gran Sasso to the Adriatic, turning Montepulciano into dark reds, Cerasuolo rosato and a new wave of Pecorino and Trebbiano whites. Read more
From Castelli di Jesi Verdicchio to Conero Montepulciano and Offida Pecorino, Marche covers 5 DOCGs across roughly 16,500 hectares of Adriatic and Apennine Read more
Italy's landlocked green heart, where Montefalco Sagrantino brings the deepest tannins on the peninsula and Orvieto's tufa cliffs ripen the country's most Read more
Italy's quietest wine region: Tintilia rediscovered on Apennine slopes, Montepulciano ripened by Adriatic light, and Biferno reds anchored above the Termoli Read more
The terroir
Montepulciano is a chameleon of altitude. On the warm Adriatic plain it ripens fast into soft everyday reds; in the cooler foothills it holds acidity and tannin for wines built to age.
Editorial
Formerly known as Montepulciano Cerasuolo, today this wine is labelled as Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo. Resulting from a direct pressing of Montepulciano grapes, this wine was the first pink DOC in Italy. It is fruity and refreshing with an appealing cherry-like colour - the name Cerasuolo actually derives from ‘cherry red’ in Italian.
For a century it was mistaken for Tuscan Sangiovese; only DNA proved the two grapes were entirely unrelated.
The confusion that defined the grapeThis wine is characterised by intense floral and fruity aromas, alongside a remarkable acidity, which is superbly offset by its body and soft texture. The best examples come from the north of Abruzzo, at the foot of the Teramo Hills.
Montepulciano Riserva wines are aged in oak barrels or barriques for a minimum of 12 months. They display a bouquet of red fruits, sweet spices and leather.
The grapes are picked after they have raisined and result in wines that express aromas of ripe red fruits, spiced with cloves and licorice. They are velvety and persistent with balanced tannins.
According to the most accredited theory, Montepulciano originates from Torre de' Passeri or the Peligna basin, in Abruzzo. From here, it spread throughout the region in the early 1900s and into southern Marche.
For a long time this grape was confused with Tuscan Sangiovese and it was only in the ampelographic studies of the 19th century that the difference between the two grapes was established.
Today, Montepulciano is widespread throughout central-southern Italy, especially in the Adriatic regions, from the hills of Rimini to the province of Lecce, but Abruzzo is still its main home.
Explore by style
Jump to the editorial guide for each style this grape turns up in.
Keep exploring
