Blackenbrook

Montepulciano 2022

Find one of Italy’s most intense and spicy wines made right here in Tasman. Every drop of this ink-coloured wine will fill your mouth with cherry and spice goodness. 

 

        $36.00 NZD

        Tasting Notes

        Intriguing and generous, our Montepulciano 2022 brims with dark berries and clay earth complexity,
        toasty wood layers and moments of
        spice and mystery.

        The Montepulciano grape variety originates from Central Italy. Try it with a wood-fired pizza or a hearty venison stew – so good!

        Read Winemaker’s Notes

        Rich, bold and incredibly rare

        Just three rows or 0.2ha of this savoury Italian red are growing in our vineyard – and only 9ha in all of New Zealand.

        Montepulciano produces large, almost seedless berries of an inky black colour. With its extremely thick skins it’s well protected against disease, meaning we can pick the fruit about three weeks later than any other variety. It’s this late autumn ripening that gives us the unique colour and flavour concentration.

        Our Montepulciano will cut through some of the meatiest meats like New Zealand game or Italian hare ragu, and will also pair nicely with rich, roasted winter vegetables - enjoy!

        Reviews

        94/100 Cameron Douglas MS

        Bold, ripe fruited bouquet with layers of mineral and red berry fruits, youthful with an enticing complexity. Plush, velvet textures touch the palate first with a core of raspberry and boysenberry fruit flavours. Delicious, fresh, dry and lengthy, a lovely food wine with best drinking from 2026 through 2034+.

        4½ Stars Michael Cooper

        The generous, well-structured 2022 vintage was estate-grown at Tasman, hand-picked, and matured for a year in seasoned French oak barrels. Full-coloured, it is mouthfilling and savoury, with strong, youthful, berry and spice flavours, showing very good complexity, and the tannin backbone to age well. Best drinking 2026+.

        The season

        It started off like a dream: a warm spring, mild conditions for flowering and a strong fruit set, lots of blue skies and just enough rainfall to keep the vineyard happy and working at its best.

        But 70mm of rain followed by two weeks of warm, humid weather in February had us worried about our crop. The weather recovered, but the grapes were now fragile and wouldn’t survive another big rain event.

        And where would we find pickers? Covid 19 was raging and the borders closed. But the community support was absolutely amazing with lots of people offering their help. We ended up bringing in a beautiful harvest with the best picking team ever – such a relief!