2008 Villa Medoro Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

Dear Rene, It's never happened before. Not once has an Italian wine under $20 won Italy's top award. Not until this delicious Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, and it's as low as $13.99 today! Italy's most important wine publication, Gambero Rosso considered nearly 25,000 wines for their 2011 Guide "Italian Wine". Only 32 wines won the "Tre Bicchieri Plus" ("Three Glasses Plus") award after only 31 won the award last year. No other red (or white, or sparkler, or sweet wine for that matter) in the under $20 price category has ever won this award. And it's coming to Arrowine on Thursday. Order today. To create Gambero Rosso's famous guide book "Italian Wines" for 2011, regional panels of wine professionals "selected for their competence and honesty" tasted nearly 25,000 Italian wines blind. Many wines were not rated at all. Those rated received a rating of "one glass" (good) or "two glasses" (very good to excellent). The top "two glasses" award winners (about 1,500 wines) entered the "Three Glass Finals" in which leading regional panelists came together and retasted the top wines (again, blind) and selected the best. The winners of this competition received the prestigious "Three Glasses" award. Only 402 wines (less than 2% of all wines tasted) won this award. A "Tre Bicchieri" award is a really big deal for an Italian winery; it singles out a wine as being among the best of the best. It is a major cause for celebration at a winery and is considered a real validation of a winemaker's and a winery's work. Many great wines miss the cut and get a "two glass" rating. As you would expect, the Three Glasses award most often goes to very expensive and prestigious wines. But since the tasting panels taste blind, occasionally some exceptional values are selected. Some great values have been selected before, but there's never been a value quite like this. Starting with the 2010 guide book, and continuing in the 2011 guide book, the co-founder and Editor in Chief of the Guide, Daniele Cernilli, has "allowed myself the small privilege of placing a '+' sign next to the names of a few Three Glass winners. These are the wines that most impressed me during tastings, and in most cases my view is shared by the Guide's other editors." For the 2011 guide, just 32 wines were selected (just over one tenth of one percent of all wines tastes). As Cernilli says of these "three glasses plus" wines: "Some are major classics. Four were Wine of the Year winners for red, white, sparkler, or sweet. Some are very traditional in style. Other are modern. But all are representative of their territories and, crucially, impeccably made, at least in my opinion." The 32 wines on the "Plus" list include, predictably, some seriously expensive wines such as Bruno Giacosa's Barolo "Rocche del Falletto Riserva" ($440), Giacomo Conterno's Barolo "Monfortino" ($400), Bartolo Mascarello's "Barolo" ($100), Sassicaia ($215), Biondi Santi's Brunello di Montalcino Riserva ($400), Gaja's "Costa Russi" nebbiolo blend ($440), Montevertine's "Pergole Torte" ($95), Valentini's Montepulciano d'Abruzzo ($259), and Gravner Rosso ($140). But in this list of "the best of the best of the best", alongside these great names (and startling price tags) there was one (and only one) wine that sells in the "under 15 Euros" (about $21) category. That wine is the 2008 Villa Medoro Montepulciano d'Abruzzo which sells in the United States for only $18-$20. That price puts this at very top of the list of the greatest Italian red wine values we've ever seen. Our lower price (as low as $13.99) makes it a wine you absolutely should load up on. Don't miss it. Please look at what Perry has on special this week in the Tuesday Boucher. Jim Cutts 2008 Villa Medoro Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2008 Villa Medoro Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Reg. $17.99 6 bottle price: $15.99 12+ bottle price: $13.99 Here's just some of nice things the Gambero Rosso has written about Villa Medoro: "The entrepreneurial verve and skills of a very young Federica Morricone (pictured below) are the reason for the international success this Atri winery reaped recently. The winery has state-of-the-art equipment, a good 92 hectares under vine on the southern slopes of the Colline Teramane, and a range of wines that astonishes, not least for their affordability, not to be sniffed at in these times of recession. We were surprised to find that the best wine this year was the 2008 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, a basic product at a truly honest price for a red of this calibre. It is masterfully made, powerful and agile, with good structure and drinkability." You've likely had Montepulciano d'Abruzzo even if you weren't aware of it. It is an all time favorite "by the glass" or "house" red wine at Italian restaurants because, even when they don't have much depth or complexity, they usually have lots of tasty fruit. These tasty but simple "house" montepulciano's are generally very inexpensive because montepulciano vines can carry very large grape yields and still make a palatable (if unsophisticated) wine. When treated seriously, though, and grown in the best locations with low yields, strict selections, and inspired winemaking, Montepulciano is capable of making gorgeous wines with real depth and power while maintaining a remarkably appealing texture and drinkability. As more producers realize this and pursue quality over volume, these wines are being recognized as belonging among Italy's best. That is why three of the 32 "Three Glasses Plus" wines for 2011 are Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. It is also why Valentini, a famous grower of montepulciano and trebbiano, was named Italy's "Winery of the Year" for 2011. You could, of course, look for Valentini's "Three Glasses Plus" award winning Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. If you found it, though, it would cost $250 or more for a bottle. Instead why not use that $250 to get a CASE of Villa Medoro's "Three Glasses Plus" award winning Montepulciano d'Abruzzo? You'll even get plenty of change back! Here's how it tastes: This is beautiful in the glass with deep purple color that's opaque at the core while bright at the rim. The aromas are intense and deep, not at all shy, and bring to mindviolet potpourri, blackberries, raspberry tarts, and licorice. On the palate, this is loaded with ripe blackberry and raspberry fruit as well as is dried herbs and black and red licorice. This is a plush, easy to drink style with cashmere texture and nice length. It feels substantial and important, but not heavy. It is so well balanced it wouldn't overpower grilled chicken and garden vegetables, yet it is plenty powerful enough to match beef tenderloins in a creamy mushroom sauce. This is delicious today and promises to keep for at least 3-4 years. To order please call 703.525.0990. We need your Visa or MasterCard information including expiration date. The wine arrives Thursday, July 28th. Thank you for reading. Jim Cutts