Polizano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG (Tuscany, Italy) 2016

 The Poliziano estate was founded in 1961 when Dino Carletti acquired 64 acres near the town of Montepulciano in southeastern Tuscany.  His son, Federico, took over the vineyards and winery in 1980, focusing on estate grown wines.  Today the 600-plus-acre estate includes more than 340 acres of vines, primarily of Prugnolo Gentile, the local name for Sangiovese.  Additional varieties include the Tuscan traditional varieties Colorino and Canaiolo and international varieties such as Merlot.   The 2016 is made of 85 percent Prugnolo Gentile with the remainder from the varieties named above.  It spends around 15 months in various sizes of neutral oak containers.  Savory, black cherry fruit is nuanced with wood spice, freshened by vibrant acidity and emboldened by husky tannins.   This is definitely a food wine that easily stood up to a recently enjoyed sauce of tomatoes, lemon zest and briny black olives.