The Umbria of wine advances or rather the wine of Umbria does so with the normal heights and uncertainties when an entire sector seeks new paths. “A Montefalco” was essentially this: communicating to the world that we are changing and in this five-star 2020 vintage we can say that the change is there and in the glass it can be noticed at the first sip practically everywhere.
And we had intuited that something was moving at Vinitaly 2024 where in the various tastings we had completely randomly identified two Umbrian wines among our favourites.
Does this mean that we have to forget about those tough Umbrian wines, tannic to the limit (and sometimes beyond) of pleasantness? In general the answer can only be positive even if – as Aesop teaches – a scorpion always remains a scorpion. That is to be clear, in the Sagrentino area there is and always will be tannin but now it has been understood and often learned to tame it in the service of pleasant drinking.
Trebbiano Spoleto
Great emphasis – the market, which is ultimately increasingly oriented towards white wines, demands it and in fact the objective is to double production – the producers have given it to Trebbiano Spoletino, a very particular and eclectic white grape which tradition wanted to be “married”, i.e. combined with other cultivations and which today is the object of exclusive attention in the vineyard. The results are encouraging: some peaks reached also tell us about potential that is still largely unexpressed. There is still a lot to do (and study) especially on bubbles but it is certainly worth doing.
The Montefalco red
The Montefalco reds we tasted left us with the impression of great “wines” while we probably had in mind something different and simpler and with less pronounced alcohol levels. But evidently that of a more everyday and immediate wine is not the idea that the producers have in mind and we are certainly wrong. In the Riserva typology we have therefore generally found some very great wines: broad, deep but often also very drinkable. Ideal for nice meat dinners.
Sagrantino
The Sagrantinos in the various denominations we tasted during “A Montefalco” are the most evident example of how Umbria wine has taken the path towards the future. Many different paths in the vineyard and in the cellar with a single objective: to give drinkability and pleasantness to the grape variety with the highest tannin content in Europe (and perhaps also in the world). It is the right path for two fundamental reasons: because the market (rightly) seeks pleasure in the glass and then because the “social” structure of Italian cuisine has changed, large meat dishes that require hours of cooking are increasingly rare with the generational turnover at the stove in families; furthermore, fats and great flavors are increasingly banned from dishes even in the best restaurants and therefore the demand for large and powerful red wines at the table is inevitably decreasing. Of course there is always abroad where great reds are enjoyed even between meals but here we inexorably return to the first point: pleasantness. So in our small way we promote the new path with flying colors and confidently await ever better results.
Passito Sagrantino
We haven’t tasted enough dried versions to have a serious opinion on the matter. In some cases it seemed like a sweet wine and in others something uniquely different. Of course, sooner or later we would like to taste it as per tradition with lamb.
A nice surprise
Lastly, we can’t help but mention a pleasant surprise for us at least: how good are Sagrantino-based rosés! Let’s forget about wild strawberries and big babol sweets. These are aromatic rosés but with body and the right acidity (and alcohol content) to be an ideal companion for many dishes throughout the meal and – we will never tire of repeating it – a good pizza.
