2025 Coriole Montepulciano, McLaren Vale

The Lloyd family of Coriole started planting Italian varieties already in the 1980s, making them pioneers of Mediterranean varieties in McLaren Vale. Decades of refinement have shaped a house style that respects the origin and character of each variety while embracing the Vale’s generosity of fruit.

Montepulciano was first planted in the Coriole vineyards in 2001, with fruit for this wine coming from sites in Willunga and McLaren Vale Flat. Compared to their well-known Sangiovese, this wine offers denser and more intense fruit yet shares the Sangiovese’s savoury tannin structure and notable freshness.

The 2025 greets with heady aromas of black fruit, black Assam tea leaves and floral, warm spice, while the medium-bodied palate floods the mouth with velvety and plush dark fruit and notes of cocoa and bush herbs. Ther’s an overall pleasant freshness to the rich fruit, all wrapped up in subtle, savoury tannins.

Perfect with Italian and Greek meat dishes and while it is likely to cellar well for several years, it drinks well on release and the contrast between the rich fruit and youthful freshness is really appealing.

About this producer

Coriole was founded in 1967 by Hugh and Molly Lloyd after purchasing their Chaffeys Road property in McLaren Vale with its existing Shiraz vineyard. Today, the second and third-generation family members are the caretakers of a much-enlarged viticultural heritage, with 25 vineyard sites across Blewitt Springs, Willunga and McLaren Flat, and vines up to 90 years old. The vineyards are managed by a team led by Mark Bates, with Duncan Lloyd as his counterpart at the winery.