- Selling Out in Italy with No Marketing
-An Undiscovered Traditional Producer Treasure
2014 Tenuta Col Falco Sagrantino di Montefalco
- Traditionally Made Sagrantino di Montefalco's Are Among Italy's Most Impressive Wines
- A Mammoth, Mammoth Wine That Should Be Unbelievable with Some Mid-Term Cellaring
- Complex. Deep Nose with Dark Fruits, Spice, and Flowers
- Stunning Palate Density. Blackberries, Chocolate, Licorice - Amazing
- Terrific Structure and Great Acidic Balance - Will Age for Decades
- At $29.99 You Will Be So, So Happy You Have This in Your Cellar
2013 Tenuta Col Falco Montefalco Rosso
- A "Baby Sagrantino" To Drink While "Big Brother" Ages
- Medium Cherry Fruits, Spice, Terrific Structure
- Can Be Drunk Now with a Decant
- Better than Almost All the Sagrantino di Montefalco's I Had This Year
I'll admit that I generally did not enjoy the mysteries of literary analysis during my time in high
Sagrantino di Montefalco
Sagrantino di Montefalco is a wine that has become popular over my career. It is a wine, like Conrad, that is difficult to approach. Indeed, on my visit, the newly opened bottles were so impenetrable that I had to take a winery tour to let them air before tasting. Yet it is a wine that when made traditionally can be plumbed like the depths of the human soul. It is as deep, dark and dense as any Pommard, perhaps even more so. When it all integrates with age, it is one of the most delicious wines in the world as well. Being able to open a mature Sagrantino is one of the wine world's most alluring experiences.
The Winery
Some of these wines are now trading for $80+. And to be honest, there is a lot of really poorly made wine in Montefalco. But, after drinking a good amount of flawed wine, I managed to find an old, old, old school producer making traditional wines in Montefalco but with a high degree of skill. And the wines seem to be very popular in the area with no advertising so they are extremely affordable for a wine of this quality. Indeed, the winery seems to be protected by wild and rather unfriendly dogs so most casually interested importers are deterred from even trying the wines. This is a major find for our customers who like wines from Montefalco. Remember, Montefalco is not like the Langhe or Tuscany - prices have not yet skyrocketed and the values here can be dramatic.
The Wines
The first wine is the 2014 Tenuta Col Falco Sagrantino di Montefalco for $29.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This is a wine of such ridiculous density and complexity I can't believe it. This is another all time Fass Selections value. When I tried it at the estate, I had to let it sit for 45 minutes before I could get a read on it, which is typical for young Sagrantino. When it started to come around, it blew my head off. The nose is deep, dark, dark black "heart of darkness" fruits. Also tons of the blackest cherries you can imagine. Late season for sure. The aromas are not in a sweet fruity kind of way but in an essence of fruit kind of way. There are definitely hints of alluring spice and flowers that come out as the wine aerates but remain strong echoes for now. These should be much more prominent as the wine ages. The minerality is terrific on this and all the fruit rests on a massive bed of it. The palate is swirling, staining sweet dark fruit. Black cherries and black berries with oomph and loads of sweet tannin. The phenols in Sagrantino are off the chart so there are some big, but ripe tannins. Some beautiful and vivid black licorice. A bit of bittersweet chocolate. Some coffee. Great tannic structure with thoroughly sweet and velvety tannins. It has amazing palate density and impact. When it hits your mouth, you really feel the wine, almost like it's alive in a muscular, Norse God kind of way. Grippy. The great thing about this wine is that while Sagrantino's can be heavy and ponderous, this has very good acid balance which gives it all the freshness one could ask for. The finish pumps those wonderful Sagrantino tannins and has the puppy fat fruit to buffer it. The acid keeps it all fresh and persistent. In 20 years that fruit gets so decadent. I've had 50-60 year old Sagrantino and they will and can compete with top Barolo and Barbaresco. You can get a sense of the wine now after a 2 hour decant but I think that it will need 3-5 years to really start to reveal the true range of what it is. It's a wine that maybe you try one now but you want to cellar as much as possible; it will age and improve for decades. Sagrantino di Montefalco's are among the great wines of Italy when properly aged and this has the stuffing in terms of structure and acidic balance to age with the best of them. It is made in a super traditional style but in a modern looking, clean winery. Aged in 25 hectolitre barrels for 36 months with another 6 in the bottle. Normally, I would have tried to sell this in a year to get it closer to its drinking window but the wines are selling out in Italy, so I had to sell this now. I tasted a LOT of Montefalco di Sagrantino this year and this was by far the best traditional producer.
The second wine is the 2013 Tenuta Col Falco Montefalco Rosso for $19.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. While the grapes are different (65% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino, 20% Merlot ) this is basically a baby Montefalco di Sagrantino but because it has another year of age, you can drink it now with a 2 hour decant (yes a $19.99 wine that needs a 2 hour decant, Welcome to Fass Selections!). If this is metaphorically a baby, man it's a little monster (in a good way). This has the flavor profile of its big brother but with just a little bit more moderate dark cherry fruit as opposed to the blackberry of the 100% Sagrantino. The nose has dark cherries, plum spices, earth and a hint of bitterness that adds complexity. For a wine at this price point, the level of aromatic complexity is extremely impressive. The palate is medium dark cherry fruit with some chocolate and spice. Some incredible palate staining here for the money. Really nice acidity. This is a wine that you can certainly drink (with a decant now) on a Tuesday if you choose to ignore the complexity. The fruit and spice is really delicious. But you can also sit and ponder it over an evening like a Baby Sagrantino. Honestly, this drinks better than most of the Sagrantino's I tried. This is aged for 24 months in 25 hectoliter barrels and then at least 4 months in bottle before release (obviously, this has around 18 months of barrel age at this point). A really crazy complex wine for the price.
The Estate
The estate was founded in 1970 by Giovanni Ruggieri who was certainly one of the first winemakers to believe in the potential of Montefalco. It is now run by Giovanni's grandson Federico who is pretty much 100% focused on making great wines in the tradition of his grandfather - they seem to sell themselves. Lucky for us when these get some age and get discovered these prices won't be seen again.
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