Montepulciano & Nero d'Troia

[RossW]

Hi All,

I am new to this club/forum, along with it being my first year of attempted wine making. I'm about to collect 20 boxes of fresh Italian Grapes (Montepulciano & Nero d'Troia). Does anyone have any experiences of blending these two grapes, or even using individually. I want to use a natural fermentation, so nothing else added.

Many thanks in advance

 

[CDrew]

Welcome Ross. Good bunch of winemakers here.

You sure you want to do an "all natural" ferment right out of the gate? Things like commercial yeast strains and nutritional aids for the yeast do decrease your risk of a stuck fermentation, bacterial spoilage, and/or H2S production. I would gently recommend a more standard fermentation your first time, especially with the quantity of grapes you are doing. It would be a shame if 600 pounds of grapes were disappointing.

There is a ton of free and well presented info in the MoreWine Manual, and I highly recommend you at least read it before you start. Many of us on this site have used this as a reference.

https://morewinemaking.com/web_files/intranet.morebeer.com/files/wredw.pdf
Regardless of what you do, post up your experience in the "Wine Making from Grapes" section. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

[Johnd]

Hi All,

I am new to this club/forum, along with it being my first year of attempted wine making. I'm about to collect 20 boxes of fresh Italian Grapes (Montepulciano & Nero d'Troia). Does anyone have any experiences of blending these two grapes, or even using individually. I want to use a natural fermentation, so nothing else added.

Many thanks in advance

Welcome to WMT!! That's a very ambitious start to winemaking, especially using native yeast. Do you have access to some of the basic tools needed? Crusher / destemmer, wine press, pH meter, that sort of stuff, or are you going to "wing it"?

Sorry I can't help with the blend, never done that one.............

 

[RossW]

Thank you all for your kind welcome. My friend made sangiovese (all natural) on his first attempt last year, which turned out to be absolutely delicious, so I thought I would have a go this year. We couldnt get hold of Sangiovese grapes this year, so have our fingers crossed with these grapes. I have all the gear (but maybe no idea ) required i.e crusher, press, demijohns, hydrometer etc.

 

[salcoco]

I would ferment separately then blend once cleared based on bench trials to determine the best ratio. the grape you have selected though are great by themselves.

 

[heatherd]

@RossW Welcome to the hobby! I have had and made Montepulciano in the past and it is great on it's own. I don't have experience with Nero d'Troia, other than knowing it is a Southern Italian grape. Agree with Sal about fermenting separately and seeing how they taste together.

 

[bigcirjust]

My father is from Abruzzi, and Montepulciano is the go-to grape there. It can be incredibly fruity and great to drink young. He’s only made it once or twice here in NJ since it’s harder to come by and expensive, but it is great on its own. I’m not familiar with the other varietal.

 

[AbruzziRed]

My father is from Abruzzi, and Montepulciano is the go-to grape there. It can be incredibly fruity and great to drink young. He’s only made it once or twice here in NJ since it’s harder to come by and expensive, but it is great on its own. I’m not familiar with the other varietal.

My family is from Abruzzi as well and Montepulciano is my Nonno’s favorite as well as mine.
My local wine supply shop has the juice coming in next week. Can’t wait to get some!

 

[RossW]

Thank you everybody for your input. The Montepulciano sounds very nice on its own. I think I will make a large batch of Montepulciano, as well as attempting a blend....Can't wait to get started!!

 

[Cynewulf]

Welcome, @RossW! I personally have a strong preference for old world wines from natural (spontaneous? ambient? I can’t keep track of the currently accepted term) ferments so I’ll be excited to hear about your experience if you choose that path this year. I myself am in the middle of preparing a pied de cuve from grapes from my vineyard to see if it would be suitable for inoculating the California grapes I’m picking up this weekend.

 

[Rocky]

Thank you everybody for your input. The Montepulciano sounds very nice on its own. I think I will make a large batch of Montepulciano, as well as attempting a blend....Can't wait to get started!!

This is on the internet from Wikipedia. Sounds like you are on the right track.

"Wines.
Uva di Troia may be used by itself or can be blended with such grapes as Bombino nero, Montepulciano and Sangiovese. Where DOC wines are concerned, the grape is the principal component of the wines Rosso Barletta and Rosso Canosa; Castel del Monte may also be produced as a pure Uva di Troia variety; it is also used in Cacc'e Mmitte di Lucera (35-60%), Orta Nova (up to 40%) and Rosso di Cerignola. Additionally, in the small town of Troia, just across the Monti Dauni, the wine is produced as Nero di Troia."

 

[Giacomo]

My family is from Abruzzi as well and Montepulciano is my Nonno’s favorite as well as mine.
My local wine supply shop has the juice coming in next week. Can’t wait to get some!

Where can I buy Nero d’troia vines?