2006 Nardo

1I have been following these 2006s from Montepeloso and proprietor Fabio Chiarellotto for three years. Now that the wines are in bottle their true potential is clearly evident. It appears I underestimated the 2006s from barrel, as all three offerings are showstoppers of the highest level. My scores from bottle are in some cases significantly higher than from barrel. The 2007s are also very beautiful; in fact Montepeloso is one of a handful of estates where the 2007s are very close in quality to the 2006s. I tasted the 2007s as final blends just prior to their bottling. Chiarellotto believes his wines shut down for several months after bottling so with his 2007s he added the final dose of SO2 in two stages, in between which he prepared the sample bottles I received. I chose to score the wines in parentheses to indicate that technically they were not fully finished. If history is any indication, I have tended to err on the side of excess caution when judging the wines at this early stage in their lives. This year Chiarellotto also has a new, entry-level wine, A Quo, that is sure to thrill Montepeloso fans looking for an alternative to the higher-end bottlings. In short, these are marvelous Tuscan reds that readers will absolutely not want to miss.

Suvereto is one of the warmer micro-climates in Tuscany's Maremma. Growers here can easily achieve ripeness and make big, full-bodied wines. Elegance, on the other hand, is much more elusive. I can't think of too many other producers who manage to reconcile these two seemingly disparate characteristics better than proprietor Fabio Chiarelotto at Montepeloso. The winery is as bare-bones as readers are likely to find anywhere, yet some of the region's most finessed wines come from these cramped quarters. Chiarelotto's 2005 are very successful, but his 2006s are simply off the charts. In fact they have remained almost as fresh and primary as they were when I first tasted them from tank late that year! The 2006s I review below are samples of the final blends taken from tank as the wines awaited imminent bottling. If the finished wines capture the essence of what I tasted, these will be the finest wines yet from Montepeloso. Readers should note that Chiarelotto is always hesitant to discuss the exact blends in his wines as he feels those discussions take attention away from the specific merits of the terroirs he works with, so the descriptions of the grapes in these wines should be taken as an approximation.