Vino Nobile comes from the municipality of Montepulciano, in the province of Siena, in southern Tuscany, on hills between 250 and 600 metres above sea level. The name refers to the town, not the grape: the variety is Sangiovese, called Prugnolo Gentile in Montepulciano, and it should not be confused with the Montepulciano grape of Abruzzo. DOC since 1966 and DOCG since 1980, it has about 892 hectares of vineyard and an output of 49,800 hectolitres.
Three levels
Vino Nobile requires at least 70% Sangiovese, with other red grapes up to 30% and white grapes up to 5%. It ages for at least two years, either 12 months in cask and 6 in bottle or 18 months in cask, and is released from 1 January of the third year after the harvest. The Riserva ages for at least three years, 12 months in cask and 6 in bottle. In 2025 a new level was approved, the Pieve: at least 85% Sangiovese, with Canaiolo Nero, Ciliegiolo and Mammolo up to 15% and Colorino up to 5%, and three years of ageing, 12 months in cask and 12 in bottle. Minimum alcohol is 12.5%.
The twelve Pievi
The area is divided into 12 additional geographical units named after an old term for parishes: Ascianello, Badia, Caggiole, Cerliana, Cervognano, Gracciano, Le Grazie, San Biagio, Sant'Albino, Sant'Ilario, Valardegna and Valiano.
In the glass Nobile is ruby red turning garnet, with aromas of cherry, violet, plum, spice and forest floor; the tannins are dense but elegant.
A noble history
A kylix, a wine cup found in 1868 in an Etruscan tomb near the town, bears witness to the antiquity of local viticulture. In 789 the cleric Arnipert gave the church of San Silvestro in Lanciniano a vineyard in the castle of Policiano, and a document of 17 October 1350 set the rules for the trade in the district's wine. In the mid-sixteenth century Sante Lancerio, cellarer to Pope Paul III Farnese, called it a "wine for lords", and in 1669 an English delegation came to Tuscany to obtain it for the court. At the table it goes with roast and grilled red meat, game, pici with ragù and aged pecorino. A little to the west, on the other side of the Val d'Orcia, lies Brunello di Montalcino.
