Umani Ronchi, Rosso Conero (Marche, Italy) 2019

 Saint Lawrence – or San Lorenzo, as referred to here – should get busy intervening on behalf of the Montepulciano variety, which can make superb wine, as in this case.  The variety needs intervention against the dual curses of confusion (with the town of Montepulciano where “Vino Nobile” is made in Tuscany, but mostly from Sangiovese) and dilution (from the vast quantities of plonk made from giant clusters grown on pergolas in south-eastern Abruzzo).  But as saints aren’t always so quick to respond to pleas from supplicants, let me say that this is a completely convincing wine with medium-plus body, impactful but not obvious fruit (dark cherries and berries), emerging savory accents of mushrooms, bright but balanced acidity, and just enough tannins to frame the finish without imparting any harshness or astringency.  Umani Ronchi is an absolutely top-shelf producer and Rosso Conero is the finest zone for this variety, and the combination shows in spades in this case.  Odds are you’ll need to find this in a restaurant, as this is clearly a “hand-sell” wine (who would pay this much when you could buy gallons of the stuff from southern Abruzzo?).  But if you try it once, you’ll understand immediately what almost everyone else is missing.