On a recent trip to Italy, we had two wonderful wines, one red, one white. The red, Montefalco Sagrantino, is from Umbria and is becoming increasingly popular and oenophiles the world over are starting to buy, drink and praise it. The white, is a one-off from Lazio, a delicious, apricot-but-dry white that goes with fruit, fish and sunshine.
Sagrantino
Sagrantino is a grape varietal that grows only around the hilltop town of Montefalco. Granted DOCG status in 1992 and made in Umbria, Montefalco Sagrantino is a powerful wine with great depth. Through increased care during vinification and attention to ageing practices, these Sagrantino wines have evolved from highly tannic and rustic into wines of respected quality.
The native black grape Sagrantino, grown around the town of Montefalco, is used to make wines of distinctive splendor in dry (secco) and sweet styles. Required to be at least 95% Sagrantino, both DOCG wines must be aged for 30 months, with the secco spending at least 12 months of that in oak barrels. The sweet wine is a passito, produced from dried grapes, and is regarded as one of the finest dessert wines in Italy’s central region.
Thank you San Marco in Prati, Rome
More from Bella Umbria.
Good post from Alcohol Professor. And one from IntoWine ("the best red wine you never tasted."
Read more about Umbria wines from Wine Words Wisdom. And figure out where to stay when you visit.
Buy It (UK):
Wine Society
Define Food & Wine
But It (US):
NapaCabs
Montefalco Rosso, similar but not the same, at Astor
Define Food & Wine
But It (US):
NapaCabs
Montefalco Rosso, similar but not the same, at Astor
Satrico
This wine will forever taste like summer in Rome, at least to me. It's dry but has an apricot-fruitiness that is distinctive yet not overpowering. You can find it in Italy and the US, but it's hard to buy elsewhere.
From the producer: "This white wine takes its name from the ancient pre-Roman city of Satricum. Traces of the earliest huts, which formed a village around a central place of worship on high ground near the river Astura, date from the 9th century B.C."
From the producer: "This white wine takes its name from the ancient pre-Roman city of Satricum. Traces of the earliest huts, which formed a village around a central place of worship on high ground near the river Astura, date from the 9th century B.C."
A blend of 40% Chardonnay, 40% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Trebbiano Giallo grapes. The grapes, harvested just as they begin to ripen, are vinified separately to ensure that the fresh, distinctive aromas of each variety come through in the final blend.
> More from the producer.
Similar wine? Frascati from Lazio, like Pallavinci, available at Wine Society. Or this one, Coenobium, made by nuns in Lazio, available at Astor Wines.
> More from the producer.
Similar wine? Frascati from Lazio, like Pallavinci, available at Wine Society. Or this one, Coenobium, made by nuns in Lazio, available at Astor Wines.
Grazie Urbana 47 restaurant in Monti, Rome.
Buy It (US):
Looking for a rich Italian red that won't break the bank? Try these wines from Veneto, Sicily and beyond.
1 comment:
I often prefer Montefalco Rosso, which is Merlot, Sagrantino, Sangiovese blend. The Sangiovese and Merlot soften the distinctive Sagrantino grape.
Post a Comment