Dei

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 'Bossona' 2015

91

Dei’s 2015 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Bossona is loaded with black cherry, chocolate, spice, licorice and dried herbs. I must admit this is a style I don’t really get, as sweetness from the oak and a search for unctuousness dominate over more typically varietal Sangiovese flavors. Moreover, the 2015 comes across as being on a relatively fast aging curve, as the oak has introduced some slightly oxidative notes. I would prefer to drink the 2015 over the next handful of years. This is the better of two bottles I tasted.

Dei

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 'Bossona' 2015

91

The Dei 2015 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva Bossona is a thick and richly textured wine that shows the dark fruit and spice that characterizes this sunny vintage. Dried blackberry, plum cake, spice and leather give the wine a savory and brooding quality that would match a charred steak on the grill. There is a lot of warm-vintage Tuscan intensity in this wine that ends with loose tannins and ripe fruit. I suggest a near-term drinking window for this accessible wine

Dei

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 'Bossona' 2015

90

I’ve tasted this producer’s wines sporadically for nearly 30 years, but this is the best of any of them. Still full of perfectly ripened primary fruit at seven years of age and despite the lengthy aging regimen for Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva (a minimum of 3 years, including at least 12 months in wood), this wine is absolutely singing at this point in its evolution. Savory notes from time in bottle are just beginning to show prominently, and though the wood influence is moderate and unobtrusive, it lends a spicy tinge as well as some additional textural grip, which the lovely fruit can easily counterbalance so that the finish doesn’t seem astringent. All of the aromatic and flavor elements seem perfectly symmetrical in this wine, and all of them are harmoniously related to one another. I grant that $80 is an asking price that will make many Italian wine lovers ask, “why wouldn’t I buy a top Brunello or even a Brunello Riserva for that much money?” Well, this wine answers the question, and quite emphatically. It is better than any 2015 Brunello Riserva that I’ve tasted to date in 2022, and is so good that I’m worried my score may be low by a point or two. Simply gorgeous.