Archivio Montepulciano d’Abruzzo – 2021

Fully saturated purple-ruby, and really very Montepulciano: no skin contact, and yet the wine is basically inky black in colour. High-toned aromas of raspberry and resiny oak give volume and flesh to juicy and penetrating raw dark berry and ripe red cherry flavours complicated by notes of spices, coffee, ink, and dark chocolate. Finishes with fine tannins and repeating elements of ink, coffee, and cocoa. Nicely tactile and full-bodied, this is a very good Archivo. First made in 2017, this is the only Tiberio wine that is matured in oak (30% of the total only, and in two types of 100% new French oak barrels for 12 months). Whatever you do, make sure you decant this two to three hours ahead at least, or double decant and keep the bottle open for six hours. 2028 – 2033

Intense and brooding in the glass, the 2021 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Archivio smolders up with a blend of grilled herbs, ashen stones, menthol and dried black cherries. It possesses a core of cool-toned acidity, silky textures and masses of mineral-tinged wild berry fruits, creating a sense of pure elegance. Structured and dramatic, the 2021 leaves the palate saturated in primary concentration. Cristiana Tiberio’s experience with aging Montepulciano partially in barriques is paying off—each vintage of Archivio displays more and more balance. 2028 – 2038

Almost blackish crimson. Oyster shells and brackish sea water over pure brooding blackberry fruit. Black pepper and a suggestion of graphite. Polished yet edgy, with an ever-changing palate and firm long tannins. This has not even begun its evolution. Tightly wound, plentiful tannins and intense fruit. I would hold off for a few years before pulling the cork. Tips the entire idea of Montepulciano as an easy-drinking wine on its head. 2028 – 2042

The 2021 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo “Archivio” from the Tiberio family is their old vine, single vineyard bottling, which hails from a special section of their vineyard where the chalky topsoil sits above a deep vein of clay and iron. As this terroir gives a unique personality to the wine, the family bottles it on its own. These old vines are trained on pergolas and this is the only Tiberio wine that is aged in barriques, with thirty percent of the casks new each year. Though, as the family notes, the use of oak here is not because they want to make a wine in barriques, but solely because the combination of these old vines and this unique soil composition is best suited to élevage in barrels. The 2021 Archivio is a fairly ripe wine, coming in at 14.5 percent octane and offering up a deep, ripe and fresh bouquet of sweet dark berries, espresso, cigar ash, dark soil tones, distant bonfire and a gentle framing of oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and nascently complex, with a rock solid core of black fruit, a fine foundation of soil tones, ripe tannins and a long, well balanced and chewy finish. The intense drought of the second half of the growing season of 2021 has cast its imprint on the style of this wine, giving it impressive depth of fruit, very firm tannins and good acids. This is a true long distance runner built for the cellar and will need many years before it is ready to drink. Once it is ready to drink, it will be excellent. 2045-2075+

There’s a dark, brooding feel to this red, with tarry smoke, loamy earth and India ink flavors underscoring the crushed blackberry, black licorice, espresso and smoked paprika flavors. Shows good concentration, and its fine, sculpted tannins are tightly meshed today. Fragrant herb and spice notes play on the finish. Best from 2028 through 2036.