Vino Intrepido 'Migrating Coconuts' Montepulciano

The Montepulciano grape (not to be confused with the town of Montepulciano in Tuscany where they ironically don’t grow Montepulciano) is widely planted in central Italy, mostly in Umbria, Le Marche and Abruzzo. More often it is used to blend with other grapes – particularly Sangiovese – but in the Abruzzo region it is generally made as a varietal wine. I was thrilled to find a vineyard in Heathcote growing the grape as it produces some of the best honest-drinking wine in Italy. Grapes were harvested quite late, were de-stemmed and the wine fermented in a large open fermenter with daily pump-overs. Fermentation was complete after ten days, and after settling the wine was racked to a mixture of French oak puncheons, hogsheads and barriques of varying age. After a rack and return in mid-Spring the wine was blended and bottled in January 2024. I hoped to make wine from the Montepulciano grape since the birth of my son Monty in June 2020 – I have a tattoo of a bunch on my arm. When one hears the name Monty, they are likely to think of the incredible comedy group Monty Python who charted their own path through the 70s and beyond, and one of their most quotable works is ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail.’ In the first scene of the movie King Arthur is challenged after suggesting the coconut halves used to simulate horse riding had migrated to England, i.e. Migrating Coconuts.