TN: 2012 Paolo Bea Montefalco Rosso Riserva Pipparello

  • 2012 Paolo Bea Montefalco Rosso Riserva Pipparello - Italy, Umbria, Montefalco, Montefalco Rosso (7/26/2021)
    Powerful wine. Deep and brooding dark black and red fruits, but with a lovely earthy and herbal structure to it. Sage, worn saddle leather, natural process coffee grounds, fenugreek seeds, coriander, mustard seed, cinnamon. It’s as if one is walking through an Indian spice bazaar. Muscular, grippy tannins and bright acidity bring everything together. Restaurant bottle, so not ideal conditions, but what an enjoyable wine nonetheless. This threw a lot of very fine sediment. I’d stand a bottle upright for a couple of days if drinking at home.

ABV: 15%
Decant: 1h
Stem: cheapo BDX stem
Assemblage: 60% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino, 25% Bacca Rossa. 12 months in stainless steel and 48 months in Slovenian oak botti. Unfined and unfiltered, minimal sulphur on bottling. 6,633 750ml bottles produced.

2 Likes

Rodrigo, I think your review nails it.

Have had this bottling many times, including most recently the 2011, and I think I like it even more than Bea’s pure sagrantino.

How to compare this one? I really like Tignanello, but this is better. Racier, wilder, unvarnished. And materially less lira.

Thanks Kelly,

I’m with you. Pipparello is my favourite of Paolo Bea’s reds, but the Cerrete makes a strong case for 100% sagrantino.

Though I think comparing Paolo Bea and Tignanello is hard. While they’re both a blend with predominantly Sangiovese, they’re very much different wines.