The new vintages of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano have been released and the highly anticipated preview party in Montepulciano, the birthplace of Vino Nobile, is this weekend, February 16, 17 and 18! The new vintages being released are the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2010 and the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2009. The Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano has a little more information on their website about the Anteprima del Vino...

Tuscany Taste, a new brand for promoting Tuscan wines to foreign markets is hosting a contest! Download their logo from the link above, print it out in color and take a “creative” photo with it somewhere in the world and upload it to their Facebook page.  They say they will “reward you for your creativity”.  Who knows what that will be but it sounds fun and hey, feel free to share it on our tuscanWINEnotes Facebook page...

Every February the new vintages of Brunello are released in Montalcino and to say it is a big deal is an understatement!  This year the 2008 Brunello and the 2007 Riserva Brunello are finally making their debut. I hear through the grapevine that the 2008(s) are decent but the 2007 Riserva(s) are exceptional.  I look forward to tasting ALL of them myself! Yes, I am going!  By bus, from Cortona with a group of most probably other rowdy wine...

Yet another great dinner, another interesting wine!  Let’s start the 2013 year right!! Breaking it down:  Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is a comes from the region of Abruzzo, in central eastern Italy.  Often confused with Vino Nobile di Montepulciano from Tuscany which is a Sangiovese grape, this grape/varietal is actually named Montepulciano, thus the name Montepulciano d’Abruzzo! Emidio Pepe has been making wine for the past 40...

Thank goodness I’m a wine blogger. Otherwise I don’t know what excuses I have for all the crazy great wine I imbibe. Take Friday night, for instance.  Mutual friend comes into town.  Dinner plans are made, small group of friends gather including our Cortona wine shop owner, Marco Molesini. Which in itself is great because Marco is fun. But Marco also likes wine.  Good wine.  And he has a wine shop.  And if you own a wine shop why...