Vino Nobile 2012 gets a map and needs more age

The wine that benefits the least from the annual Tuscany en primeur tastings is Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Compared with Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile arguably needs more bottle age to show its true self, even if Brunello is the most powerful and tannic of these wines. In its youth, Vino Nobile is often very closed and reluctant to show anything, except for a rich concentration of sweet yet undefined fruit, suggesting its final shape will emerge only after extended cellaring. Or, in some cases, perhaps not at all.

Another problem with assessing these wines from the...