Monti Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2010

Generous, yet pure on the palate, this wine's ripe, round tannins and delicate acidity make for an excellent overall structure. Pair this wine with sausages, tomato sauces, barbecue, and ancho chile-based dishes.

This small, family-owned winery even involves the family dog on the bottle. "Baffo," meaning "mustached" in Italian, is the name of Monti's Spinone breed that appears on each bottle. The Spinone are famed as being versatile hunting dogs of ancient heritage with origins in northern Italy. Unfined and unfiltered to preserve all its fleshy, fruit flavors, this wine has a dark, inky, red color and intense aromas of ripe blackberries, cherries, and herbs with undertones of licorice, black pepper, and smoke