On Umbria Wines

A guest and wine-lover has shared his wine journal

Thank you, Leonard.

"Just returned from a week in Umbria. One night in Orvieto and the remainder in Umbertide as our base at the B&B “El Marsam” with hosts Ginda and Mike Simpson. Ginda is an American with deep roots in southern Italy and very knowledgeable of the area and helpful with directions. She is also a talented author and painter. Our trip would not have been the same without her assistance and I highly recommend the accommodations.

I am mostly a novice on Italian wines and this was to be an exploration of the area and its wines. One of the most helpful discoveries was the “Duemilavini 2007” which is a listing of over 2,000 Italian wines organized by region in alphabetical order of producer. Although apparently only published in Italian I found it much more reliable and better organized than Gambero Rosso. You can still stumble through the tasting notes in Italian and find things you can understand. I hope the Italian winos on this board will forgive me as I am sure most of them already know this stuff.

On to the wines and some short notes:

Decugnano Dei Barbi Orvieto Classico “IL”- made mostly from grechetto. I found this wine not to my liking with under ripe peach and honeydew melon notes. Tasted several predominately grechetto wines and just not to my taste.

Decugnano Dei Barbi Orvieto “IL” Rosso- very light wine with blueberry and raspberry.

Castello Della Salla “Cervaro della Sala” 2003– this estate is owned by Antinori. A white blend of 80% chardonnay and 20% grechetto (the blend changes somewhat year to year). Vanilla raisins is the best way to describe this. An incredible wine of profound complexity. I loved it.

La Carraia “Fobbiano” 2001- a merlot based Bordeaux blend. A little oaky but a great wine with food. Chocolate, cherry, tobacco.

Caprai- This was a personal one on one tour and tasting arranged by Danny Sanford of Fine Wine Trading Company in Charlotte. Met with Roberta Cenci and had a great tour of this beautiful winery and facility just outside of Montefalco. After the tour we tasted through their lineup including Colli Martani Grechetto Grecante, a 100% grechetto which was the best one we tasted, Montefalco Rosso, a blend of 70% sangiovese, 15% merlot, and 15% sagrantino, Collepiano Sagrantino, wow!, 25 Anni 2003 Sagrantino, a beautiful expression of this grape, explosive nose, glycerin, cocoa, leather, just a terrific wine. Also tasted Rosso Outsider, a blend of half merlot and half cabernet, a great wine. They also make a Nero Outsider of pinot nero but only in mags and very limited. We asked, but they weren’t pouring this.

Colpetrone Sagrantino 2003- 100% sagrantino. A huge brawny wine with tons of spice and fruit. One of the best wines of this trip. This has the stuffing to lay down for a long time, probably twenty years or more. Very close in my book to the Caprai.

Tabarrini “Colle Grimaldesco” Montefalco 2002- my notes are muddled here but I think this is a blend of mostly sangiovese with the rest about half each of sagrantino and cabernet. Had this at a restaurant, Casaline, which was a carnivores heaven. Wild boar, deer ham, carpaccio of buffalo and goose, sausages of every description. The wine went very well with these heavy meats.

Lungarotti- tasted at the cantina in Torgiano. They have one of the most complete museums of wine located there also and very interesting. 2001 Rubesco- a light wine with raspberry notes.

2000 Rubesco Riserva- a bit more on top than the regular bottling. 2001 San Giorgio- a complex blend of sangiovese and cabernet. A really great wine with notes of leather, spice, and a long finish.

Icario, Nobile di Montepulciano 2004- A venture over into the edge of Tuscany and lunch at La Botte Piena in Monte Fellonico which is a tiny town just off the road before the split to Pienza and Montepulciano. Eleana who runs the restaurant is a wine wizard and you can tell she is passionate about it. She put together a case of Nobile for us. I highly recommend trying to find this place. The wine was extremely dark like ink, nose of cedar, leather. Loved it.

Scacciadiavoli Sagrantino Montefalco 2003- Had this with pizza cooked at El Marsam by Mike in his wood oven. A perfect match with pizza. Very spicy and peppery but sort of a simple wine with little nose but good fruit. Probably could have used some air.

Carini Tegolaro 2003- A super Umbrian blend of 50% merlot, 30% cabernet, and 20% sangiovese. Ruby, garnet color. Great perfumed nose of violets. A huge tannic wine sort of California style but a little awkward.

Lamborghini Campeleone 2003- blend of half sangiovese and half merlot. Boy was this fast. Impenetrable ink, nose jumps out of the glass. Silky smooth, tons of fruit and knit together very nicely. Complex and drinking very well now.

Antano- Saved the best for last. We wanted to find this place after seeing the huge reviews in Duemilavini 2007. They were open until noon on Sunday so we headed out to find them. It wasn’t easy. Finally at the rear of a house in the middle of nowhere between Montefalco and Brevagna we saw fermenters and wine barrels.  Francesco Antano, the winemaker, peeked out and motioned us into the basement.  It was a small room and the entire winery was in there.  Two plastic chairs came out and we sat at a small table.  He and his brother, Fabrizio, brought over good glasses and started pouring.  They spoke little English and we spoke even less Italian but somehow we communicated enough...  They farm only 7 hectares.  The wines:

Rosso di Montefalco 2003- 70% sangiovese, 30% merlot. Great nose, an elegant well made wine. One year in bottle.

Rosso di Montefalco Riserva 2003- 65% sangiovese, 15% merlot, 15% sagrantino. 15 months in bottle. An incredible wine with huge dark fruit, saddle leather, spice box, long finish. 2,000 bottles produced.

Montefalco Sagrantino Colleallodole 2003- This was one of the most profound wines I have ever had. This one just jumps out of the glass. This reminds me of an amarone on steriods. Blackberry, graphite, plums, licorice, espresso, vanilla. 15% alcohol but hidden beneath all of this fruit. Holy Sh*t, this is just one of the best wine experiences of my life. Only 1,500 bottles and none exported into the US. The highest rating by Duemilavini 2007. Absolutely amazing."