A drinking trip in the core of umbria wine

usly there are many good wines from other parts of the Umbria too. Some really brilliant sangiovese and elegant but resistant orvieto classico for example. But  they are made of grapes also growing in other regions.

while montefalco makes important wines made of typical umbria grapes exclusively.

Sagrantino and trebbiano spoletino, this trip is all about these 2 grapes.

Here is a thorough tasting note on the wines we tasted:

villa mongalli

The winery  produce 60000 bottles each year all together

They have a policy to age their wines for customers, so their sagrantino cost 40, and spoletino cost 22, all the vintages have the same price, regardless it’s vintage 2005 or 2015.

We tried the 2005 sagrantino, which is obviously preserved in perfect condition and tastes sophisticated and young.

PS: foxes there eat as well as us, they dine on chicken  and grapes

spoletino 2019

70 years old vine, wild yeast,

harvest:end of october,

taste:80% ripe dried apricot, dried mango, pineapple, mediterranean herb, cat-mint

sagrantino 2005   

ferment with wild yeast,14%

harvest:end of october, 

Taste: dried leaves in forest, dry spices(sage,tobacco,wild mushrooms)

for a 18 years old sagrantino stay in such a good condition, 40 euro is a pretty fair price

briziarelli

This winery invented a blend  makes perfect sense: viognier+spotetino

Which fermented at 14°C and Taste like hay, yellow flowers       

spoletino

one night skin contact, 40% in barrels for 4 month,

orange flower, citrus peel, lime, lemon grass, green mango, hay, relatively high acidity and thinner for this variety,.because it is harvest relatively early: end of September

Rosato

85% sagrantino, 15% sangiovese

harvest in the end of September

red berries, cherry, juniper, caramel, 

sagrantino new style, 2018

14 days skin contact,which is about half time of traditional version, make it softer

18 month in barrels

harvest : beginning of october

dried prune, dried figs, chocolate, sweet spices,a soft version of sagrantino. 

Jo said it tastes almost like a primitivo. Well,I will say it tastes like one of the best primitivo. I usually like tough wines, but I do like this wine.

But what is the difference between this wine and a primitivo? This one has more leather, while a good dense primitivo will taste of blood orange. Young sagrantino also often have blood orange flavor, but they do not taste like primitivo.

sagrantino traditional, 2016

25days skin contact, stronger and less fruity,obviously. 

scacciadiavoli

umbria bianco, 2021

since 2016 the law changed, now umbria bianco has to be at least 50% spoletino

Taste: stone fruits,  olive oil, white flowers, perfectly structured.

spoletino,2021

half of the grapes have skin contact for a month

matured in amphora, so special! But also balanced and pleasant

sagrantino 2017

I have a theory that strong wines like sagrantino are often surprisingly good in tough years. i mean they will taste quite different than usual but as good as usual. Just like this one.

Taste:  strongly forest, leaves,  moss, wood, leather, wild berries

sagrantino 2018

Totally different than 2017 vintage,

taste like dark chocolate with cassis filling

This winery has best quality / price ratio

Climate

trebbiano spoletino in steel

vibrant fresh fragrant 

trebbiano spoletino in oak

with some days of maceration with the skin

dry mediterranean herb,hay and macchia tones 

sagrantino rosato

harvest in September,one month before the red

There is nothing sagrantino about it, it could be made from any grape, i wouldn’t know

sagrantino docg

A bit too flat as a sagrantino

colle ciocco

spoletino 

harvest in middle october, 

But the wine maintains sharp acidity, 

because this grape is resistant to heat, draught moisture

Sagrantino

macerate with skin for 40 days, turns out softer than normal 20-25 days maceration version

fine and densely 

spoletino

Has a typical flavor of green papaya，relatively high acidity

dionigi

grechetto 

With 24 hours skin maceration

concentrated flavor of dried peaches and apricot，i like it

sagrantino rosato

harvest 1 month before the grapes for the red, 1hours’ maceration

Taste like concentrated dried sweet plums, figs

It is a sagrantino you can drink in summer，But you know it is made from sagrantino.

Sagrantino docg

almonds, licorice，coffee with caramel

On the way back to perugia, we went to 

di Filippo

unfiltered grechetto

Taste like sweet apples，figs，

We will not pair it with raw white fish，but it will go well with white meat and blue fish a

umbria bianco

totally in steel tank but have obviously softer acidity, not necessarily less, but softer than the grechetto

I confirmed the typical flavor of spoletino is green papaya.

rosato of montepuciano + cornetta

taste salty, olive oil, unripe ribes

sagrantino non SO²

Taste liek dried plum, dried apricot ,tobacco,leather,

the tannin is rough and does not form the texture, the tannin feels like big rocks laying randomly outside of a building, not a part of the structure.