2023 Boscarelli Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

Paola and sons Luca and Nicolò carefully arranged vineyards and cellars to get maximum terroir expression in their wines.

Egidio Conradi grows up in an old Poliziana family in the Montepulciano region, but leaves for Genoa after his studies. Here he works for a long time as an international trader. But his passion for wine and love for Montepulciano are so strong that he decides to return to his native soil in the early 1960s. He buys two old, abandoned farmhouses with old vineyards in Cervignano di Montepulciano, in the heart of Montepulciano. According to Egidio, the ideal place to realize his dream: making top quality wines, authentic to this area and with a beautiful elegance.

Together with daughter Paola and her husband Ippolito De Ferrari, Edigio founded the Poderi Boscarelli winery in 1962. They realize that with the vineyards in the heart of Montepulciano they have struck gold. Together they replant vineyards and renovate and convert the old buildings into a modern winery and cellars. A large part of the vineyards are located on the slopes northeast of Montepulciano, in the Chiana valley. The valley has a special microclimate, where a constant airflow ensures ventilation and cooling in the vineyards. This allows the grapes to ripen slowly and they suffer less from rot and fungi. The alluvial soil is rich in texture and sand and has good water permeability, giving the wines their characteristically elegant, mineral character. Each piece of land has its own character, which the family tries to reflect in the wines as much as possible. The age of the vines, the soil composition and the optimal ripeness of the grapes are taken into account. In this way, the house makes about 30 different, unique cuvées every year, which ferment and mature separately from each other and are then carefully blended.

Both of Paola's sons, Luca and Nicolò, have now joined the company. After high school, Luca initially starts training as a diplomat in Genoa, but decides to go back to his roots in 1988 to meet his mother and Dr. Maurizio Castelli, the house winemaker. Nicolò also joins in 1997. He is engaged in planting and tending the vineyards. 80% of the vineyards are planted with Sangiovese. The remaining 20% ​​contains various indigenous grape varieties such as Mammolo, Canaiolo and Colorino and the international grape varieties Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In order to increase the diversity in the vineyards, and thus to give a better representation of the terroir, various vineyards work according to the Sélection Massale method. When planting vineyards, old, selected vines from the same vineyard or the immediate vicinity are used. This creates a mix of different clones of the same grape variety, which together provide a good representation of the terroir.

Minimal intervention is made in the cellars when making the wines. All wines ferment spontaneously using natural yeasts. Wood is used very dosed in the fermentation and maturation of the wines. The wines are pure, elegant and each have a clearly recognizable character. Wines from this region can sometimes be quite ripe and concentrated, but the relatively cool climate in the Chiana valley and the very careful way of working give Boscarelli wines an elegant, accessible character.