Before I start, I need to confess that I somehow lost my tasting notes for this wine but am pressing ahead anyway as this wine more than deserves a spot on my blog and easily earned its place in my 'Most Memorable Wines of 2011'
Australian made Montepluciano's are few and far between but coincidentally I had recently tried another Aussie Monte's a week or so before trying the By Jingo. It took but one sip of the 06 By Jingo Montepulciano to know I was drinking something pretty bloody awesome. There was definitely a 'wow' moment after sip number two and the bottle didn't last as long after that! It has such a gorgeous flavour that I can't relate back to any other wine I've tried before. It was completely different to the other Montepulciano I had the week before that is also from a South Australian producer.
Being lucky enough to have a bottle of the 08 also around at the time I took it along to a staff tasting I held for Google Australia, as part of Google Wine Week+. I remember a staff member yelling out to me 'What is this?' pointing to the bottle of By Jingo 08 Montepulciano, then saying 'It's fantastic!'. I only got a tiny taste of the 2008 vintage before the staff polished it off, but it would seem the reaction to it from several Googlers meant they had just as high an opinion of the 2008 as I do of the 2006. As a result of that tasting I'd also like to ad that this wine is vegan friendly and apologise to the staff member who missed out given I only learnt of this fact the day after the tasting.
I should add that it was actually days after I had tasted it that I learnt it's price and admit to being somewhat surprised to see it was over $100. After pondering the price point for a while I realised that I've had plenty of $100+ wines that I cannot even remember... but I'll remember this one for a long time to come I am sure!
By Jingo 2006 Montepulciano
Price - $120 from By Jingo Wines
Region - Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Final Sip - Do yourself a favour and try this wine before the 30 cases made have sold out. If the price is still getting in the way then try the 2008 as it is less than half the price! Alternatively keep an eye out for my upcoming Rare and Odd varieties wine dinner, as you can bet your Montepulciano it'll be there!
