Understanding wine is often about comparisons: If you’re not familiar with a certain variety, what does it remind you of? Over several days in the storied Montefalco area of Umbria in central Italy this month, I found myself at times thinking about California wines, particularly young, high-end Napa Valley Cabernets that often require some years of aging to reach their full potential.
The issue is tannins, the chewy, often “dusty” remnants of the grapes that coat the mouth, give red wines structure, and make them worthy of aging. Those young California Cabs are quite tannic. And so, in their first few years, are the wines made from the Sagrantino grape in Montefalco, but even more so.
Grown in the region’s calcareous clay, sand, and limestone soils, Sagrantino produces dark, concentrated, high-alcohol wines with ABVs typically in the 15 percent range, due in part to the long growing time required to achieve full ripeness. It also has one of the highest levels of polyphenols, with their antioxidant properties, of any red grape.
Sagrantino is one of the great but less heralded red grapes of Italy, and Montefalco Sagrantino is the top appellation, named after the storybook village around which most of the wineries are located. The Montefalco area is relatively small, with most of the wineries 15 or 20 minutes from one another, making it possible to cover a good deal of ground in a day or two.
While Montefalco Sagrantino is the region’s most famous wine, Montefalco Rosso is the wine for everyday drinking. And there is plenty of it — a blend of mostly Sangiovese (the signature grape of neighboring Tuscany) with a smaller amount of Sagrantino and often some Merlot. Montefalco Rosso is softer and easier to drink when young than Montefalco Sagrantino and is a good-value wine.
Montefalco is also known for two white wines that are getting more attention: Grechetto, made for early drinking from the grape of the same name; and Trebbiano Spoletino, a more complex, age-worthy white that, to the bane of its winemakers, is often confused with the more ordinary Trebbiano Toscano. There’s currently an increased focus on Trebbiano Spoletino in the region.
Filippo Antonelli, owner of the large Antonelli San Marco estate, likens Trebbiano Spoletino to the red Sagrantino “because you can age it many years,” and compares Grechetto to Montefalco Rosso, calling them “the soldiers that go to war.” Though they may have foot-soldier status in the minds of winemakers, I found Grechetto and Montefalco Rosso more interesting than they are sometimes given credit for.
As for Montefalco Sagrantino, when I checked the wine list of a famous American restaurant, there were five Montefalco Sagrantinos offered from the 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016 vintages — a nod to Sagrantino’s demand for time. Plenty of time.
While the tannic grip of the wines gives them incredible longevity, it also makes them kind of tough to swallow when young. And these days, some of the producers of Montefalco Sagrantino don’t want to wait — or wait so long. So a reckoning is going on, as I learned on visits to a dozen or so wineries this month at the invitation of Montefalco’s wine consortium.
“Today, I’m sure that most of the producers are trying to go more toward a style of wine that can be — I don’t like to use this word — approachable,” says Eleonora Marzi, director of marketing and communications at Arnaldo Caprai, the biggest Montefalco winery, as she led a tour of Caprai’s vineyards and cellar. Approachability may be a dirty word to Montefalco traditionalists, but consumers are driving it, Marzi says. “No one is storing wine, keeping wine before opening it,” she adds. “And so we need to allow the people to enjoy a Sagrantino.”
So how does a region steeped in the traditions of long aging for its top wines make them more accessible earlier to a broader group of wine drinkers?
Marzi explains that Caprai uses a technique in which barrels of Sagrantino grapes are rotated — spun horizontally several times a day for 40 days — exposing the liquid to more air and softening the tannins.
Giampaolo Tabarrini, owner of the iconic Tabarrini winery, calls Sagrantino “a beast of a wine” and says he has his own still-secret technique in stainless-steel tanks that tames Sagrantino’s tannins, which he began using in the 2019 vintage and produced “the best wine we ever did.”
“It’s the way that you handle the skin and the fermentation that changes,” Tabarrini reveals, saying that the system “preserves smells and tastes” that are obscured in the standard fermentation process. The results are evident in a tasting of Tabarrini’s cru Sagrantinos.
Still, most producers adhere to the traditional, long aging regimen for Sagrantino. They are worth the wait. In the meantime, Montefalco Rosso and the region’s white wines are well worth exploring.
Here are 14 top wines from Montefalco to try:
Tenuta del Cerro Còlpetrone Montefalco Rosso 2018
This is a fantastic $15 wine bargain, a great everyday wine that’s already nicely aged. It shows a medley of flavors including blackberry, ripe strawberry, and blueberry compote with secondary notes of fig and cedar. Moderate tannins make it easy to drink. Notably, it’s estate-bottled — I rest my case about Montefalco wines as undervalued and underappreciated.
Price: $15
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Antonelli Montefalco Rosso 2021
Blueberry and strawberry notes dominate in this balanced wine with a bit of coffee and sweet vanilla from oak aging. Medium tannins coat the tongue. The 2020 vintage is currently available in the U.S.
Price: $22
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Tenute Lunelli Montefalco Rosso ‘Ziggurat’ 2021
From organically grown grapes, this is a blend of 70 percent Sangiovese, 15 percent Sagrantino, and 15 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Aged for 12 months in small and medium-sized barrels, it’s spicy and moderately tannic with cherry and blueberry notes and a hint of vanilla.
Price: $26
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Scacciadiavoli Montefalco Rosso 2021
Opens up nicely with sweet red and black fruits, including blueberry and cherry, with a good deal of oak. The overall impression is bright and very drinkable. Montefalco Rosso accounts for half of Scacciadiavoli’s production. Think of it as an excellent alternative to Chiantis from Tuscany.
Price: $23
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Tenuta del Cerro Còlpetrone Montefalco Sagrantino ‘Memoira’ 2015
One of the best-value Montefalco Sagrantinos, the 2015 comes with a good deal of aging. Leafy and herbal with aromas and flavors of ripe black fruit, fig, and touches of balsamic and orange peel. The tannins are quite refined at this point. A bit lighter in body than other Sagrantinos.
Price: $26
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Montioni Montefalco Sagrantino 2018
Owner Paolo Montioni says he produces about 80,000 bottles a year and that 90 percent of them are exported, including his excellent Montefalco Sagrantino that shows blackberry, floral, spice, mushroom, and cedar notes.
Price: $45
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Tenuta Alzatura Montefalco Sagrantino 2015
This wine shows bright blackberry, plum, and a touch of black licorice on the nose with good balancing acidity on the palate. It’s just becoming ready to drink and opens up well as you swirl it in your glass. The winery is owned by the Cecchi family of Tuscany, which invested in the Montefalco region in the 1990s.
Price: $50
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Fongoli Montefalco Sagrantino 2017
This fruit-forward Sagrantino has a gorgeous nose of overripe strawberry, blackberry, and a hint of pepper. It’s a bit leaner than some at 14.5 percent ABV. Aging takes place for five years in large Slovenin oak casks. One of the favorites of my visit.
Price: $41
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Arnaldo Caprai Montefalco Sagrantino 2019
A bold wine, still very young, that comes into its own when paired with meat-based dishes. Enjoy it with beef or spicy grilled pork chops. It’s dominated by red fruits with notes of vanilla, meat, leather, and touches of black pepper and lavender. Good acidity balances out the high alcohol.
Price: $57
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Moretti Omero Montefalco Sagrantino 2016
This superb Montefalco Sagrantino is drinking beautifully right now, with eight years of age on it. The tannins are silky and frame notes of blackberry and cassis with hints of graphite and meat. An elegant wine that reminded me of an aged Napa Cab or a top Bordeaux, showing Sagrantino’s potential.
Price: $50
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Arnaldo Caprai ‘Grecante’ Grechetto 2022
This wine shows just what the Grechetto grape is: relatively light and aromatic, with aromas and flavors of white peach, green apple, and lots of flowers and herbs. Try it instead of Sauvignon Blanc with all kinds of fish and shellfish or with summer salads.
Price: $20
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Antonelli Spoleto Trebbiano Spoletino ‘Trebium’ 2022
Fermented in large oak barrels, this wine shows notes of green apple, citrus, tropical fruits, and a bit of almond. A refreshing summer wine, it’s perfect with the various salumis and cheeses that appear on so many lunch tables in Umbria.
Price: $22
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Fongoli Umbria Trebbiano Spoletino ‘Maceratum’ 2022
This wine is made from organically and biodynamically farmed Trebbiano Spoletino grapes. “Maceratum” refers to the fact that there’s a relatively long maceration of this white wine, with 12 to 14 days of skin contact. Fermentation takes place in terracotta amphorae. It’s fresh and dry with green apple and lemon flavors and a touch of honey.
Price: $37
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Tenuta Bellafonte Montefalco Bianco ‘Sperella’ 2021
This is a delicious, textured white wine that shows the dimension of the Trebbiano Spoletino grape. It’s also a great under-$20 value. Light gold in color, the wine is aged on the lees in stainless-steel tanks for about five months, giving it an unusual richness. Notes of apricot, tropical fruits, and citrus are punctuated by minerals on the long finish.
Price: $16
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