Sagrantino

We had a “Bot Luck” style tasting at my house last night, and one of the participants brought the Jacuzzi Family Vineyards 2010 Sagrantino. We had a lot of serious wines, but that one was the wine-of-the-night for most of us; most of us had never had a Sagrantino before and were very impressed. Who among you have tasted Sagrantinos? Do you have any to recommend?

Paolo Bea’s Sagrantino di Montefalco

Tried another one from California at last fall’s Family Winemakers tasting in San Francisco, from Rosa d’Oro:

Rosa d’Oro 2010 Sagrantino, Tracy Hills. The vines were propagated from cuttings imported by Randall Grahm. Medium color, this showed earthy red fruits and spice on the nose. Medium weight on the palate with good structure and a moderately tannic finish, a promising young wine.

Yup…based on the Italian Sagrantinos I’ve had, I was expecting a big bruiser of a wine. Pietro’s Sagrantino is much different…
quite elegant and bright and, all in all, a very pretty rendition of Sagrantino.
I’ve not yet tried (nor found) Alice’s Sagrantino but, given the source and given it’s “natural”, I just know I’ll love it!!!
Tom

I don’t have much experience with Sagrantino, but at both the Slow Wine and Tre Biccheri tastings in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago I was blown away by the Sagrantinos of Giampaolo Tabarrini. http://www.tabarrini.us/ Crazy single-vineyard stuff, with incredible concentration and deep, complex flavors. Definitely something I want to seek out…

Which vintage did you drink? I think I’d like to try the 2006, but can’t find it.

I just had a bottle of the 2006 the other night. Really quite good (not as good as Bea to me, but very good). You may want to ask Garagiste if they have any left. Pretty sure that’s where we got them from.

Cheers.

Al

Tabarrini, Colpetrone, Rocca di Fabbri, Terre de Trinci, Adanti, Bea, Antonelli, there are many, many very good producers.

At Tre Biccheri he was pouring 2008 Montefalco Sagrantino Campo alla Cerqua – a total knock-out…

In Healdsburg, the very cool DaVero winery/olive oilery makes a delicious Sagrantino. Not worth it to me to drop the $90 or so, but a really nice wine to taste and a true original. I’ve also had a really killer Sagrantino from the Rosenthal portfolio, but I’ll be damned if I can remember what it was. (Helpful, I know.)

Some good reviews of Tabarrini here:

I’ve always liked Rocca Di Fabbri Sagrantino Di Montefalco.

Caprai’s 25 Annee is probably my favorite Sagrantino, year in, year out (and I LOVE the variety!)

Cheers,

Mark

Drank this last week!

TN: 2007 d`Arenberg The Cenosilicaphobic Cat, McLaren Vale, SA.

Purchased 2 yrs ago, SC, $33 Cdn. 14.5% alc, opened one hour, consummed over 3 days. No sediment notes, 91% Sagrantino, 9% Cinsaut.

Medium ruby , light watery rim.
Plenty of earthy tones on the nose with added plum and herb. Would fool many, that is for sure. “Funky” from across the table!
Dry, tannic (the Sagrantino?) entry but softens up with time. A blend many would not be familiar with? Oak here, chalky, cherries and more herbs on the finish. Not that ripe, medium-bodied, good acidity. “Not a fruit bomb, interesting blend”…will keep one last glass for tonite.

+1

Last year I liked the 2008 Fattoria Colsanto, Sangrantino di Montefalso at $18 and the 2006 Cantine Novelli, Montefalco Rosso at $17. While the first is pure Sagrantino the later is only 15%. My favorite was the 2007 Colpetrone, Montefalco Sagrantino at $26. I guess I need to try some this year! Here is my note:

2007 Colpetrone, Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG – $26
Imported by Vias Imports. This wine is 100% Sagrantino which was aged for 12 months in French oak barriques. The fruit is sourced from 35 hectares of vineyards on soils of limey soil with clay deposits at 350 meters. This slowly opened over several hours. There were focused, black fruit with air, stoney ink flavors, and a hint of licorice. Towards the middle there were concentrated red fruit flavors, leather notes, and a little wood box to this wine where power lurks. The finish revealed lifted, blue fruits which were racy and inky. This young wine has an expansive finish with fine ripe tannins and some warmth. ***(*) Now-2022.

Kevin, what other wines at the tasting made an impression?

Folks, how about letting us know where you got the 2008 Montefalco Sagrantino Campo alla Cerqua and the 2007 d`Arenberg The Cenosilicaphobic Cat? WineSearcher.com doesn’t reveal any American source for these.