If you are interested in featuring Montoliva Vineyard & Winery's interesting, high-quality selection of Tuscan-styled wines, please contact Mark at mark@montoliva.com
2016 Dolcetto Our 2015 Dolcetto was released in November 2017; it won a Double Gold Medal at the 2018 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. I already knew then that the 2016 was going to be equally as good. And it is, having just won a Silver Medal at the 2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. I know, not Double Gold, but still really good! This wine shows a light, bright spearmint in the nose, light pepper in the mid-palate and a soft, lingering finish. This release also marks the end of a chapter for our Dolcetto, as it is the last vintage that we will get from the Ken Musso vineyard in Georgetown. It was always a struggle to get him to sell me any of his fruit, after 2016 he said “no mas”. I only made 95 cases of this beautiful wine. Silver Medal ~ 2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Retail: $30/bottle Chicago Park Wine Society Price: $24/bottle SOLD OUT 
2015 Estate Sangiovese The terrain of Montoliva is unique, sitting at the bottom of a valley at 2300 feet elevation. This means we get the kind of wide day/night temperature swings that are very desirable in producing high quality fruit. This was not by chance, in 2000 I chose this site especially because of this unique micro-climate. 2015 was a year that counter-intuitively was very balanced, weather-wise. While it was the fourth year of the drought, the summer was moderately mild, with no big spikes in temperature. We harvested this fruit at 23.0 brix. It has an interesting juxtaposition between bright fruit, lean power and the dry tannic structure you expect from my wines. 90 cases total produced. $30/bottle $24/CPWS Price Gold Medal ~ 2019 Orange County Wine Competition. 
2015 Teroldego Teroldego is Italian for "Gold of the Tyrol Hills", aptly named as it is mostly grown in the regions of South Tyrol and Trentino. Our Teroldego has typically been a big, black meaty wine with a lot of black licorice on the palate. Our vintage 2015 Teroldego continues this tradition, adding a hint of anise to the finish which is complimented with well structured tannin. The first time I ever set eyes on the grape known as Teroldego, my reaction was “Holy Cow! That’s one big bunch of grapes!” The first photo of yours truly and Teroldego has become iconic, finding its way onto the wall of the Briar Patch market and into the pages of various publications, including The Union newspaper. Renowned wine critic Dan Berger describes our Teroldego wine as “very highly recommended, an impressive entry and a rich palate”. Wine Enthusiast magazine says “most definitely interesting...would be stellar with barbeque.” Retail: $32/bottle Chicago Park Wine Society Price: $25.60/bottle 
2015 Aglianico This is our seventh Aglianico. The first, our 2006, won a Gold Medal at the 2009 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Our second, vintage 2007, won a Silver Medal at the 2010 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Our third, vintage 2008, was positively reviewed by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. In July, 2015, our fourth became one of the first wines from this region reviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle. Our sixth, vintage 2014 won Best of Class at the 2018 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. I think Aglianico agrees with us! Our 2015 MV&W Aglianico continues the trend of more fruit in the mid-palate than earlier vintages . It has maintained a very light, playful cranberry nose. Still has the pronounced tannins that Aglianico in general, and MV&W Aglianico in particular, is known for. We gave this wine two and a half years in barrel and one year of bottle-ageing. The noticeable, well-integrated tannins make this a fine wine with any meal. While somewhat obscure in California, Aglianico is widely grown in the Basilicata region of Italy. Aglianico is considered to have been the best wine produced during the era of the Roman Republic. Only 100 cases produced. $30/bottle, $24.00 to members of the Chicago Park Wine Society SOLD OUT |
2017 Mark's Magia Thanks to a great deal of research at UC-Davis, we know that there are roughly 200 different chemical compounds the come together to create the sensory delight we know as wine. And yet, we still have a fairly poor understanding of how all these different compounds interact to create the different profiles of different varietals. And don’t even get me started on how things interact when you blend different wines together. For example, our 2017 Negroamaro didn’t throw a sediment in the bottle. Neither has our 2017 Primitivo. Put them both together though….you got it. This wine threw a fair amount of sediment. This is due in small part because I don’t fine or filter any of my red wines. In large part it is due to…well, who knows. This classic Puglian blend is 65% Primitivo, 35% Negroamaro. Only 120 cases produced. $30/bottle, $24.00 to CPWS members. 
2016 Barbera Our 2016 takes Barbera’s natural fruitiness and acidity to new heights. We source the grapes from Viani Vineyard on Pilot Hill, working with owner Steve Viani to ensure we harvest as ripe as viticulturally possible while maintaining a good pH balance. Big fruit, MV&W’s signature earthy/complex mid-palate, nice cleansing acidity in the finish. 70 cases produced. $27/bottle ($21.60/bottle to CPWS members). Silver Medal ~ 2020 West Coast Wine Challenge 
2015 Sinistra Silver Medal, 2020 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Sinistra, a blend of Teroldego and Barbera, is Italian for “Left”, so named because I am left-handed (which Julianne is always quick to add, explains many things). Teroldego and Barbera both bring very different strengths to the table, and for this reason, they don’t always initially play well together. I age the two wines separately for my typical 24 months, determine/create the blend, then put the blend back in barrel for another 12 months to give them time to work out their differences of opinion. After a year in bottle…well, you can see for yourself. This wine exhibits subdued fruit on the front, subtle earth tones in the mid-palate, and good structure in the finish. Pretty darned good now, based on past experience, will be a knock-out in 3-5 years. Only 100 cases produced. $32/bottle ($25.60/bottle to CPWS members) 
2017 Negroamaro Negroamaro is Italian for "black" (negro) and "bitter" (amaro). Oddly named because the wine is not particularly dark, and it definitely is not bitter. This is our fifth Negroamaro. Strong black tea spiciness, with a hint of cinnamon. This is another obscure varietal, grown primarily in the Puglia region along the Adriatic coast. There are only about three acres of it in California, including the acre we planted in 2015. While most of our wines get a minimum of two years in barrel before bottling, I’ve found that our Negroamaro reaches the perfect balance of bright fruit and depth at about 18 months. I’m often asked if there is a better known varietal I could compare with Negroamaro; it has the color and complexity of a well-made Pinot Noir, with more of a spicy mid-palate vs the earthy tones more typical of Pinot Noir. We produced 91 cases of this rare and beautiful wine, so we will sell out of this wine fairly quickly. Retail: $30/bottle Chicago Park Wine Society Price: $24/bottle SOLD OUT |
2017 Sierra Bella Sierra Bella is Italian for "Beautiful Sierra". This Super-Tuscan blend of Sangiovese, Primitivo, Teroldego and Barbera is indeed a beautiful wine. The Sangiovese gives this wine a pleasing acidity and earthiness, the Teroldego and Barbera provide a fruit lushness, the Primitivo pulls everything together. And at $20.00, it is a beautiful bargain as well! ($16 CPWS) Silver Medal ~ 2019 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition 
2016 Late Harvest Barbera By happy accident, in 2008 we produced our first Late Harvest Barbera. It was a hit, positively reviewed by wine writer Mike Dunne, reviewed by Wine Enthusiast Magazine, everyone loved it, sold out of it rather quickly. This style of wine doesn't come every year though. The growing season has to be the absolute model of perfection, and needs to stretch into November. $22/bottle (500ml) ($17.60/bottle to CPWS members) 
2015 Nebbiolo As with many things related to Italian wine varietals, no one really knows how the Piedmonte grape Nebbiolo got its name. One theory is that it is related to a dense fog that is prevalent during fall harvest season in the Langhe region where much of Nebbiolo is grown (fog in Italian is “nebbia”). I prefer the idea that it comes from the Italian for “Nobile”, meaning Noble. Nebbiolo is a notoriously hard grape to grow well. That there are only 155 acres of it grown in California is testament that not too many vineyardists even try. It is even harder to make a good varietally reflective wine from the grape. It does require, as the youth would say, some mad skills, along with a healthy dash of luck. This vintage of Nebbiolo follows in the footsteps of our Cal State Fair “Best of Class” 2013 Nebbiolo. It is somewhat lighter in body than the 2013 (reflecting the warmer, drier growing season), almost bordering on being “rose-ish”. As often happens with Nebbiolo, its light color is deceiving, this wine has the body, mouthfeel and complex flavor profile of a high-end Pinot Noir. I only made 100 cases. $30/bottle $24/CPWS Price 
2015 Primitivo Somebody get me the pepper grinder! Our 2015 Primitivo starts out with a subtle nose of raisins and olives, segueing to a BIG white pepper front and mid-palate, and a long, moderately dry lingering finish. There is also just a hint of sandlewood in the background. I believe this wine is going to age better than my Primitivo typically does as well. Only 83 cases produced. Retail: $28/bottle Chicago Park Wine Society Price: $22.40/bottle SOLD OUT |