What about Vino Nobile?

[Christian Miller (CMM)]

Chianti is the wine everyone knows (or at least thinks they do). Brunello is the Tuscan appellation that gets the vast majority of high end and critical press and scrutiny. And poor old Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is lost somewhere in between. I was in the region last summer, and went to a trade tasting recently with many Vino Nobiles. Based on my experience, the quality level is quite good and there are many interesting winery or family stories. Not to mention the staggering beauty of the region itself. Yet the typical Italian wine list or retailer will have 10-20 Chiantis, 5-10 Brunellos and 1 or 2 Vino Nobile at best. I don't see it discussed much on various boards either. Thoughts?

 

[MarkS]

When I saw the heading, I was going to say something like "What About VNdM?" I enjoy it, but it's amazing difficult to find examples. I think there used to be more of these in shops during the Booming '90's. Whatever. I kinda miss them.

 

[Levi Dalton]

The Vino Nobile di Montepulciano zone is much smaller than generalized Chianti. It is roughly equivalent in size to Chianti Colli Senesi. Simply put, there is much less vine acreage to go around than for Chianti as a whole.