2018 Monteverro

The 2018 Monteverro is classy, elegant and polished. Lifted aromatics and silky tannins frame this decidedly understated Maremma red. Crushed flowers, spice, menthol, licorice, lavender and dried herbs are all finely laced together. This is such an engaging wine.

This vintage of Monteverro's top-shelf blended red (made with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot) is slightly green in terms of its aromas with some bramble, grilled herb and potting soil. The 2018 Monteverro (with 15,277 numbered bottles released) is not as generous or as rich as some of the other recent vintages. This was an uneven growing season with a cool and wet spring followed by a hot summer. The wine pulls back in terms of intensity as a result.

Full bottle 1,361 g. Organic viticulture – the wines will be certified from the 2019 vintage. 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc, 15% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot. Hand-picked. Parcel fermented. Spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel and barrel. 100% gravity movement of wine. Hand punchdowns. 24 months in French oak barrels with 80% new oak. Unfined, unfiltered. Gritty and dark and emphatic. Cassis and black olive and caraway seed with a green lift of laurel leaf and a touch of char and tar. The most emphatic of the three Monteverro reds, with slightly drying tannins. Perfect lamb-roast wine. (TC)