Pollux Membership August 2024: The Other Montepulciano
Warning-the following locale is not ugly: The blue Adriatic and rolling hillside vineyards in close proximity, Rosso Conero DOC, Le Marche, Italy.
“The Other Montepulciano”
Umani Ronchi Montepulciano “Cumaro”, Rosso Conero Riserva, Italy 2019
As goofy as we in America can sometimes be, we just don’t have the sense of idiosyncrasy (or the historical timeline) to be as confusing as Europeans when it comes to our wine culture. Imagine the outcry if the Willamette Valley had, as France’s Burgundy region does, umpteen vineyards all named “The Quarry” or some iteration of same (the French translation, “Perrieres”, is a go-to sobriquet for several Burgundy single vineyards). Or, how about this marketing conundrum: what if we took the name of one of the USA’s most famous wine towns and had a grape varietal with the exact same alias that hailed from a part of the country much less known for wine? “I’m really enjoying this glass of Napa!” “Oh, you mean from Napa, California? What is it, Cabernet?” “No, I meant the Napa grape-it’s actually grown in Indiana!” (apologies, Indiana wine community).
And yet this is exactly the enigma facing fans of Italian red wines, as one of the most noteworthy villages in Tuscany (Montepulciano, home of the famed Vino Nobile di Montepulciano that is based on Sangiovese) and the principal red grape of Italy’s eastern coast (Dio Mio, it’s also called Montepulciano) share a name…and that’s about it. Cracking the case on this bit of confusion that is the focus of staff trainings in Italian restaurants the world over (even in Italy…probably) requires a trip across the Italian countryside from the Mediterranean coast to the Adriatic; luckily, our tour guide is one of the most venerated producers in the Le Marche and Abruzzo regions, a family just awarded the iconic Vin d’Italia “Winery of the Year” award from prestigious food and wine publisher Gambero Rosso for this 2024: Umani Ronchi.
A shared vision: bound by a commitment to both entrepreneurship and quality, Umani Ronchi has flourished under founder Massimo Bernetti and his son Michele.
The second-most widely planted red grape in Italy after Sangiovese, the Montepulciano variety is often confused with its big brother; indeed, sharing a name with the Tuscan hilltop town of Montepulciano has created assumptions that Montepulciano (the town) wines are made from Montepulciano (the grape), or even that Montepulciano IS Sangiovese (DNA research has confirmed that this is not the case). Originating in central Italy, Montepulciano boasts some characteristics that set it apart from its Tuscan counterpart: both its acidity and tannin levels are lower than Sangiovese, and the Montepulciano varietal has that rare combination of being full-bodied but with medium tannins, leading to a juicier, more open and forward wine in the bottle than many Sangiovese-based wines. The chief red wine of the region of Abruzzo, Montepulciano can, in the sun-drenched heat of the south, have a slightly rustic profile. For my palate, the grape’s zenith comes in vineyards north of Abruzzo, in the only appellation of the Le Marche region that requires a majority of Montepulciano in the blend: Rosso Conero.
Encircled by the much larger Rosso Piceno appellation (where the red wines can be, and often are, made principally of Sangiovese instead of Montepulciano), Rosso Conero is a small DOC that extends south of Le Marche’s principal city, Ancona, which sits on the Adriatic Sea. The area’s combination of limestone-laden chalk and clay soils are a boon for the easy-ripening Montepulciano, providing needed balance and keeping acidity levels up. The textural weight of Montepulciano’s large berries comes across in Rosso Conero’s dark inky fruit and relative plushness of texture, further denoting this are when it comes to the production of Montepulciano. Indeed, some producers endeavor to place their top cuvees in fine oak barrels for maturation, with some (including, for my money, this month’s “Cumaro” reserve from Umani Ronchi) achieving a lush blend of purple and dark red fruit that can rival some entries from Italy’s Super Tuscans made in the Bolgheri appellation on the opposite coast.
The Bernetti family and their winery Umani Ronchi have proven to be adept stewards of the Rosso Conero appellation; the family’s journey in wine began over 60 years ago in the nearby Verdicchio vineyards of the Castelli di Jesi DOC, where founder Massimo Bernetti got his start. Always with a mind to scale but do so gracefully, today Bernetti works with his son Michele managing a winery that has parcels in both Le Marche and Abruzzo, over 200 hectares of land in all. Luckily, this growth has been steady across the decades, and the winery doesn’t produce large amounts of any one cuvee, with over 22 different wines produced across their various terroir. The Bernettis are committed to showcasing Montepulciano in a way that best sets the grape up for success, and that means aging in high-quality oak barrels, even if much of that is neutral in most of the Conero wines. Speaking of Montepulciano, the family also celebrates the varietal all on its own, with no Sangiovese blended in, of which 15% is permitted by appellation law.
Another aerial view showcases the proximity of the vineyard areas in Rosso Conero to the Adriatic; the Montepulciano grape has been shown to thrive in this dry, maritime climate.
At the southern end of the Rosso Conero DOC is the town of Osimo, where Umani Ronchi’s caves are located. The commune represents the limits of the DOC as only part of Osimo is located within its boundaries. The family’s Osimo property contains the San Lorenzo vineyard, the source of their Conero Riserva level wine since its first vintage in 1985: “Cumaro”.
The greatness of Montepulciano on full display, the “Cumaro” has a nobility that belies its price point, a testament to Umani Ronchi’s experience and resources; like a Burgundy winery that has holdings across 20 vineyards but makes small quantities of each, Umani Ronchi has scaled their business without sacrificing the finished product-sustainability measures including solar panels that cover about 50% of the winery’s total needs and organic corks for all bottlings produced from sugar cane (which both limits tree usage and also makes “corked” wines nonexistent) are an additional plus. For the “Cumaro”, the southeast facing vineyard site stretches from just 150-200 meters above sea level, and the maritime influence is felt in the wines softer, voluptuous fruit. Close pruning and targeted thinning of the grape bunches keeps the yield in check, and the concentration of the fruit that remains is felt in the smoothness of texture the wine possesses.
While researching Montepulciano’s cultivation, I’m struck by how many writers/critics want to give the title of “best exponent of the grape” to Le Marche’s southern neighbor, Abruzzo. There are producers in Abruzzo who give Montepulciano the same red-carpet treatment that “Cumaro” receives, but I’m not convinced: the wines I’ve tasted are still more prone to warm finishes, dried-out palates, and rustic textures. I think that, if Montepulciano is ever to reach the heights of its Tuscan counterparts in terms of “collectible” cult-favored bottles, the proximity to the sea, ancient maritime soils, and potential for ripeness without oxidation favor the Rosso Conero appellation, and the concentration of fruit and care in the aging potential of wines like the “Cumaro” show this region to be capable of competing with “Super-Tuscan” areas-at least so long as everyone remembers that this grape, the “other” Montepulciano, doesn’t come from a hilltop town southeast of Siena. And now, you’ll have to excuse me, as I’m off to Indiana to see if I can convince them to rename one of their native Midwestern hybrid grapes “Napa”-D.
Umani Ronchi Montepulciano “Cumaro”, Rosso Conero Riserva, Italy 2019
Country of Origin: Italy.
Places and People: Umani Ronchi has entered their seventh decade as a winery, growing from a small farm in the eastern Italian region of Le Marche to an estate of over 200 hectares spread over multiple regions. Despite their size, their quality is excellent and they remain committed to sustainability, with organic practices, projects devoted to conservation of water, and partnering with universities to study and maintain soil health. The Montepulciano varietal is the calling card of the region of Abruzzo, but the “Cumaro” is produced in Rosso Conero DOC, the only appellation for the grape in Le Marche that requires Montepulciano varietal status (minimum 85%). This single-vineyard wine derives from the “San Lorenzo” site near the winery’s caves in the town of Osimo, southwest of Ancona. Southeast facing at an elevation range of 492-656 meters above sea level, the terroir is based on Pleiocene-era soils. The first vintage of “Cumaro” was in 1985, and in 2004 the “Riserva” distinction was added to the wine by law. Production is still relatively small at less than 4,000 cases. The name “Cumaro” refers to the Arbutus trees that grow in the Conero area (the label refers to the Spanish name for the tree, Madrono, or “strawberry tree”).
Soil: Very deep chalky loam soils.
Grape Varieties: 100% Montepulciano.
Winemaking: Hand-harvested in October (Montepulciano is a generous but late-ripening varietal in Le Marche). The wine is fermented for 12-14 days in temperature-controlled tanks; the yeasts are indigenous. Malolactic fermentation follows, also in tank.
Aging: The “Cumaro” 2019 is aged in standard 225-liter French barriques for 12-14 months; after bottling, the wine is held for at least 7 more months of aging (Conera Riserva law requires a minimum of two years aging in total).
Flavors and Foods: A richly adorned wine, the 2019 “Cumaro” takes advantage of this strong vintage and delivers a full-bodied wine that will appeal to fans of both New and Old World offerings. There is so much to enjoy, from the initial scents of cooked plums, cassis, dark cherries, Italian basil, and cedar to the palate that features enough acidity to balance the nurturing in oak barrels that the wine receives. The vanilla, cardamom seed, and star anise that accompany the “Cumaro”’s time in barrel are present enough to remind us that this relatively youthful offering (only 4 years in bottle thus far) has exceptional cellaring potential (see note below) but aren’t enough of a hindrance to prevent enjoyment now. The wine’s true calling card is textural: Montepulciano’s plush, full berries and propensity for late ripening make for a powerful-yet-silky mouthfeel, reminding me of the best red wines from our own Washington State in that regard-basically, the relatively lower acidity when compared to Sangiovese really sees Montepulciano as a “crossover” into Italy for those wine drinkers you know who are stubbornly rutted to their domestic cabernets. The 2019 “Cumaro” will remind you at first sip that you’re in need of some robust-flavored plates to accompany it (red sauces, fresh basil, marbled beef, wood-fired eggplant, pasta puttanesca with grilled squid, washed-rind cheeses with crusty grilled bread), but this dreamy softness of texture has me thinking of keeping the pasta types similarly squishy: consider gnocchi or cavatappi as bedfellows.
Service and Cellar: The 2019 vintage in Italy was made for ageability, and the “Cumaro” is enjoyable now with a solid 60 minutes of decanting but saving a bottle or two for a special occasion in the 2030’s would also be an inspired notion. Serve the “Cumaro” at red wine cellar temperature to best enjoy the aforementioned texture of the wine (58-62 degrees F).