Colle Vota Montepulciano d’Abruzzo – 2021

Bright ruby-red. Medicinal cherry, crystallized blackberry, raspberry and a pungent herbal note on the nose. Fresh, juicy and tightly wrapped, with full-bodied and very ripe flavours of red cherry, balsamic oils and herbs. supported by firm acidity. Rather muscular wine, finishing long with pungent floral and musky nuances and a firm tannic spine. Not yet pliant but has the structure and material to reward aging, but I’m not so thrilled by the slightly green nuance most likely deriving from an imperfect ripening of the Montepulciano grapes or of the stems. Maybe I caught it at an awkward time, and it will develop nicely in bottle, but for now best to decant this four hours ahead. 2028 – 2033

#21 of Top 100 Wines of 2025

Wildly perfumed and elegant from the first tilt of the glass, the 2021 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colle Vota wafts up with a bouquet of confectionary spices, dusty dried flowers, incense and dried strawberries. This is graceful and lifted in feel, with chalky mineral tones and woodland berries propelled by tantalizing acidity. A savory herbal tinge lingers through the long and tannic finish as the Colle Vota tapers off with tremendous length and a resonance of lavender pastille. It’s a radiant Montepulciano built for the cellar. 2028 – 2038

The 2021 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colle Vota is in a bit of a closed phase at the moment. Coaxing reveals dusty stone, cracked chalk and dried violets that give way to licorice-tinged blackberries. The palate is wildly expressive, with vibrant acidity energizing a pretty inner sweetness and silky textures. Lavender tones saturate toward the close. This concludes with cloves, incense and camphor over a bed of fine tannins. The 2021 is a potent vintage of Colle Vota with a balance that will carry it for over a decade in the cellar. 2028 – 2039

The Tiberio vineyards look fantastic after the struggles of the 2024 vintage. While several vines did not recover, most of the ancient Trebbiano Abruzzese and Montepulciano vines are thriving thanks to a balanced and slightly rainy 2026 season. Spirits are high. On this trip, I toured all of the parcels planted with massal selections, as well as a new parcel planted entirely to trees. The idea behind this is to create a forest that will bring balance to the vineyards. As for the new releases, Tiberio’s Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo is once again a standout in the category. I also tasted every vintage of the Colle Vota, from 2014 to the newly minted 2022. Its aging potential is commendable, and the 2014 is still fresh as a daisy. Tiberio plans to release mixed six-packs of this wine in the near future, with two bottles each of 2018, 2019 and 2021. The 2023 Bianco Fonte Canale, now in bottle, no longer bears the name Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. After years of research and genetic testing, Cristiana Tiberio no longer believes that the DOC accurately represents her wine. Whereas most Trebbiano d’Abruzzo is a blend of Trebbiano Toscano and other varieties, the Fonte Canale is genetically confirmed to be 100% varietal Trebbiano Abruzzese. The 2023 is one of the best renditions of Fonte Canale I’ve ever tasted.