The 2000 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano demonstrates the sure hand of this oenologist. A brilliant ruby with a spicy, elegant nose of red fruit and subtle oak, its well sustained flavors are ripe, round, and give a balanced tannic support for its soft texture and assure good drinking from now to 2010. Situated, as its name suggests, near the Nottola crossroads, this well run small estate has the misfortune to face the grotesquely ugly, recently-built local hospital, a crime against the environment and the lovely hillside vineyards for which Montepulciano’s administrators deserve an exemplary tar and feathering. Riccardo Cotarella makes the wines with his customary flair and panache. Importer: Winebow, Inc., Hohokus, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620