1997 Montevertine Le Pergole Torte Riserva

The 1997 Le Pergole Torte comes across as roasted, warm and unusually ripe, especially by the standards of this wine. I tasted two bottles, both of them advanced. Cedar, tobacco, dried herbs and most tertiary notes inform the 1997, a wine that needs to be drunk sooner rather than later. The natural acidity of Sangiovese is the only saving grace. The 1997 is a solid Pergole Torte, but not up to the level of the best years. This is the last wine Sergio Manetti saw bottled and also the year he became ill. The three years that follow would be a period of transition at Montevertine.

Quite pale with brownish ruby rim – quite evolved. Very marked acidity. Round, full and dense with well-melded prune flavours. Much riper and more developed than the Cepparello, and considerably more weight. This will probably go on and on but is certainly approachable now. Bone dry. (JR)

This is the last finished vintage of Le Pergole Torte seen by Sergio Manetti. Martino's father would die three years later in 2000. The 1997 Le Pergole Torte is an impressive wine that shows a tight and slightly nervous personality. The wine opens very slowly and with timid footsteps to eventually reveal a full and generous disposition. Of course, the popular winemaking style back in 1997 saw wines with big extract and lots of oak. Many of these expressions appear tired and oxidized today. That's why an intact and linear wine like this is such a special treat. Mar 2018, www.robertparker.com