Borgo Sena
An everyday Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC: soft, juicy and fruit-forward, with plum, black cherry and a violet lift over gentle tannins. Over 850 Vivino drinkers rate it solid value near 10 pounds, an easy weeknight red for pasta, pizza and lamb.
Drawn from more than 850 Vivino ratings and Great Wines Direct's own notes: a soft, juicy Montepulciano led by plum and black cherry, with a violet lift and a leathery, earthy edge rather than overt oak.
Plum and blackberry lead, lifted by a note of violet that both Vivino's drinkers and the Great Wines Direct datasheet pick out. Underneath sits a savoury, slightly leathery earthiness rather than overt oak.
Violet
Black cherry
Blackberry
Plum
Forest Floor
Leather
Black pepperSoft, juicy and medium-bodied, with gentle, easy tannins and the fresh fixed acidity Italian references flag as Montepulciano's backbone. Black cherry and plum carry through, edged by a faint tomato-leaf and bitter-almond savouriness drinkers consistently mention.
Medium in length and gently warming at 12% alcohol, closing on dark fruit and a touch of black pepper rather than tannic grip.
Across more than 850 Vivino ratings this sits at a steady 3.4: an uncomplicated, fruit-forward everyday Montepulciano that drinkers rate as honest value rather than a wine of great depth. Borgo Sena is a negoce label bottled for early drinking, best with a weeknight plate of pasta or roast lamb.
Stocked around 10 pounds by Great Wines Direct and greatwine.co.uk, currently in the 2024 and 2023 vintages, both 75cl under screwcap.
Where a soft, 10-pound entry Montepulciano lands for food-friendliness, value, beginners and everyday drinking.
Inexpensive, soft and immediately drinkable, a textbook midweek red.
Soft tannin and fresh acidity make it a versatile match for tomato pasta, pizza and lamb, a classic Abruzzo food red.
Soft, fruit-forward and low in tannic grip: an easy introduction to Italy's Montepulciano grape.
At about 10 pounds with a steady 3.4 Vivino average across 850-plus ratings, it delivers honest everyday value.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our editorial methodology.
A compact view of what the Montepulciano d'Abruzzo denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
Compare tracked offers from verified retailers at a glance. Stock is shown only where the retailer exposes it. Logos, sale pricing, and the strongest offer are surfaced first.
An early-drinking style: the 2024 and 2023 are made to enjoy young rather than cellar, showing primary plum and black-cherry fruit.
Bottled young for early drinking: soft, juicy and fruit-forward, best enjoyed within about three years of the vintage.
An early-drinking vintage now showing its primary plum and black-cherry fruit; drink over the next couple of years rather than cellaring.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC is Abruzzo's flagship red. Borgo Sena is an entry-level, negoce-bottled take at the value end of that denomination.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is in the DOC tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo falls within Abruzzo , covering Abruzzo. The denomination is further divided into 5 sub-zones.
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC permits high vineyard yields across Abruzzo's hills and plains, so fruit for an entry wine like this is inexpensive, holding the shelf price near 10 pounds.
Borgo Sena is an exclusive Great Wines Direct label rather than an estate wine, stripping out winery branding and grower margin from the price.
A screwcap closure and young release mean no barrel cost and no years of cellar stock to finance, unlike a Riserva.
UK still-wine duty of about 2.67 pounds a bottle at up to 15% ABV, plus 20% VAT, account for well over a third of the 10.04-pound price before the wine itself.
Bringing the wine from Abruzzo to a London warehouse adds freight, importer and retailer margin on top of a low ex-cellar cost.
Dishes that complement this wine
Montepulciano's gentle tannin and the fresh fixed acidity Italian references flag suit Abruzzo's own lamb, tomato-led pasta and aged pecorino.
Montepulciano's fresh acidity meets the acidity in tomato sauce head on, keeping ragu and pizza tasting bright rather than flat. Its soft tannin stays out of the way of the dish.
Try with: Lasagna · Pizza Margherita · Pasta arrabbiata · More pairings →
Gentle but real tannin binds the protein and fat of roast lamb and grilled beef, softening on the plate while the dark fruit answers the char. Lamb is Abruzzo's own classic match.
Try with: Spezzatino di pecora · Fiorentina steak · Agnello Ragu Lucano · More pairings →
A medium body sits level with rich but not heavy baked pasta and slow-cooked meat sauce, matching weight for weight so neither the wine nor the dish dominates.
Try with: Lasagna · Agnello Ragu Lucano · Porchetta · More pairings →
Juicy fruit and fresh acidity refresh the palate against salty salumi and hard pecorino, where the saltiness rounds off the wine's modest tannin.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · Porchetta · More pairings →
The violet and black-pepper top notes bridge to the herbs and fat of porchetta and slow lamb stew, echoing the savoury, earthy side of the wine.
Try with: Porchetta · Spezzatino di pecora · Agnello Ragu Lucano · More pairings →
Capsaicin amplifies the modest tannin and 12% alcohol and flattens the soft fruit, so this gentle Montepulciano gets overwhelmed by searing chilli rather than cooling it.
Skip with: Lamb bhuna · Szechuan beef · Crispy chilli beef · Sweet and sour pork · Pairing guide →
This is an early-drinking Montepulciano, not a wine built for the cellar; enjoy the 2024 and 2023 within two to three years of the vintage.
Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Built for early drinking with no cellar structure: screwcap, 12% alcohol and no oak ageing programme.
£10.04 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 7 Jun 2026, 15:00 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumIt is a soft, juicy red led by plum and black cherry, with a violet lift and a savoury, slightly leathery edge over gentle tannins. At 12% alcohol it drinks easily, finishing on dark fruit and a touch of black pepper.
Yes. It sells for around 10 pounds and holds a steady 3.4 average across more than 850 Vivino ratings, which puts it among the honest, everyday end of Italian Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.
Tomato-led pasta and pizza, roast and grilled lamb, porchetta and aged pecorino. Montepulciano's fresh acidity and soft tannins suit Abruzzo's own lamb dishes and weeknight ragu.
It is 100% Montepulciano, the dark-skinned red grape of Abruzzo, grown across the region's hills and plains and bottled here as a DOC wine.
Drink it young. This is an early-drinking style with no cellar structure; enjoy the current 2024 and 2023 vintages within two to three years of the vintage.
Yes. The retailer datasheet lists the wine as both vegan and vegetarian.
Francesco Cirelli
2 retailers
From
£27.10
Nestore Bosco
2 retailers
From
£12.26
Cascina del Colle
1 retailer
From
£13.37
Podere Castorani
1 retailer
From
£29.24
Affiliate disclosure. Some links above are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Editorial coverage, ratings and tasting notes are written independently and a retailer cannot pay to be listed or to be ranked higher.
How retailer prices are sourced.
Prices and stock are read from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Outbound buy links carry rel="nofollow sponsored noopener". The list is sorted by price; we do not accept payment for placement.
What we will never do. Imply we tasted a bottle when we didn’t. Imply stock when a retailer is out. Imply independence on links that are paid affiliate links.
Verified retailers
Price comparison
Updated daily
