Montepulciano

Montepulciano is a medieval and Renaissance hill town in southern Tuscany, built high on a 605-metre limestone ridge 13 kilometres east of Pienza. Its wine, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, has Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita status and stands with Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti Classico as one of the principal red wines of Tuscany. It is made mainly from Sangiovese, known locally as Prugnolo gentile, and aged for 2 years, at least 1 of them in oak barrels. A document of 1350 already sets terms for trading the wine of the area, and in 1685 the poet Francesco Redi called Montepulciano the king of all wines. Its Rosso and Vin Santo hold DOC status too.