Mazzamurello 2010 Torre dei Beati: the vineyard sprite

"Abruzzo is famous for two things: Rocco Siffredi and Montepulciano" someone told me recently at a lunch!

Today we obviously won't be talking about Rocco Siffredi and his experiences on the Isola dei Famosi, but about an excellent Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC.

The producing estate is Torre dei Beati, whose name derives from a 15th-century fresco found in the church of Santa Maria in Piano depicting the Last Judgment; the torre dei beati is the destination toward which souls from the afterlife aspire.

The estate cultivates indigenous grape varieties in the territory of Loreto Apruntino and vinifies exclusively its own grapes. Today's wine is the Mazzamurello 2010, a wine awarded the "Diploma Vini di Veronelli" 2014.

The label is very charming and depicts precisely O Mazzamurello, a fantastic creature from the fairy-tale tradition of Abruzzo and the Marche; these are mountain sprites found under similar (but different) names in other parts of Italy (even distant ones). In popular folklore, it announces itself by striking blows with a mazza (club) against the walls of a house (murello) to herald news such as the imminent birth of a child or the presence of a treasure.

The Montepulciano is trained using the pergola abruzzese system and vinified in stainless steel before maturing for 20–22 months in new barriques with batonnage on the fine lees.

The wine presents an intense ruby red color; aromas of cherries in spirits, black pepper, spices, toasted notes, wood, tobacco and tar, alongside balsamic hints and something reminiscent of chocolate.

A full body and well-balanced structure are accompanied by fine, ripe tannins – a wine that announces itself by knocking firmly on the palate's door. The finish is long and will stay with you for many seconds.

I drank it paired with a board of cured meats and typical Abruzzese cheeses and arrosticini; others instead chose to match it with Pecora alla Callara.

By comparison, the otherwise good 2011 vintage seems to pale: a certainly pleasant wine, sweeter and rounder, yet it comes across as less developed and lighter in aromas and flavor.