Ciavolich Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOP 2023

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOP, Italy

Wine Enthusiast 90 points, Best Buy!

Ciavolich Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOP is a beautiful food-friendly red wine of 100% Montepulciano from Italy’s Abruzzo region.The name of the winery is Ciavolich Azienda Agricola. The Ciavolichs were Bulgarian wool merchants who, in 1500, arrived in Miglianico, where, in 1853, the family constructed their first wine cellar, which is one of the most ancient winemaking buildings in Abruzzo. Today the family winery is owned and run by Chiara Ciavolich and her husband Gianluca. We first met Chiara at our shop in October 2016 and immediately fell in love with her wines!

Entirely hand-harvested, the wines of Ciavolich reflect the time honored, traditional winemaking techniques of Abruzzo. The grapes for Divus are selected and harvested by hand and taken in the winery to be destemmed and crushed. The must ferments in steel vats under controlled temperature. The wine is then transferred to old barrels and barriques where it ages for a year. Aging continues in bottle to then present a fresh, tannic, soft, full-bodied, ma­ture wine that gets better with time.

“The nose is sweet but also clean, balanced and refreshing, with aromas of cherries, soil, milk chocolate, chili pepper and wild fennel. The palate has a similar feel, as headlining blackberries and black plums are accompanied by malted chocolate and licorice. Sleek tannins balance fiery acid.”—Wine Enthusiast 90 points, Best Buy!

Enjoy Ciavolich Montepulciano d’Abruzzo over the next 6-8 years with polenta with sausages, stew with potatoes and cherry tomatoes, grilled lamb, veal with tomatoes and parmesan cheese.