Drinking and Pairing Montepulciano with Food

Montepulciano can be easily confused with Sangiovese of Tuscany (where there is a town called Montepulciano which famously grows Sangiovese under the local name Prugnolo Gentile), but in fact the grape Montepulciano is entirely different from that Tuscan Sangiovese and has nothing to do with Montepulciano the town. Montepulciano is likely to be native to the region of Abruzzo in east-central Italy. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is made into two very distinct styles of wine: red and a deeply-colored rosé known as cerasuolo. Red Montepulciano d'Abruzzo has medium weight, decent acidity, and is extremely drinkable with soft tannins. The overall quality of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is very high, even from larger, more commercial producers, and is viewed as a very good value.

Because of this wine's soft tannins and medium alcohol, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo can sometimes work with spicier dishes, but is probably at its best as an accompaniment to pasta with a meat-based ragù.