Poggio Anima Samael Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

Poggio Anima Samael Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC. Wow, what a mouthful. And so’s the wine! Just wait until you wrap your laughing gear around these modern looking but traditional style Italian reds from Poggio Anima.

This is their Montepulciano and, to keep it simple stupid, they’ve colour coded their labels. This one’s pink and on the label it features some kind of goat like creature with wings and a tail, shaking a serpent in its hand. Apparently that’s Samael, who in Jewish texts is known as the “Angel of Death”.

Samael is known as being both good and evil – which is a lot like Montepulciano. It’s one of Italy’s most famous varieties but there’s a lot of crap Montepulciano out there. This ain’t one of them. This is the good stuff. This is the good Samael.

This is 100% Montepulciano from a single vineyard site located half a mile from the Adriatic Sea. We honestly reckon this must be one of the best value Monte’s we’ve come across in many a year. And the final word from the winemaker himself – “This is smooth and drinkable, great value for drinking now but enough grip to lay down for a couple of years.”