Pavlov's Favorite Wine: Ready to Drink Montefalco Sagrantino - Not a More Delicious Wine in the Portfolio

2014 Montioni Sagrantino di Montefalco
 - Ready to Drink Sagrantino 
 - The Power of Sangrantino
 - Deep, Dark, Intense Fruits, Spice
 - Great Balance
 - Likely the Most Flat Out Delicious Wine I Sell
 - At $30.99, You Will Want to Buy a Good Amount

2015 Montioni Montefalco Rosso
 - For $18.99 You Will not Find a More Delicious Bottle of Wine
 - BIG Cherry Fruit
 - Classic Sangiovese Spice and Licorice
 - Perfect Acidic Balance - So Juicy and Fresh

We all have heard of the famous series of experiments where Pavlov proved his theories of classical

conditioning.  He paired the feeding of dogs with an unrelated stimulus over time and eventually, the dogs began to salivate when exposed to the unrelated stimulus.  This research and the theories that resulted from it provided the underpinning for a significant amount of new research as well as behavioral therapy, which has helped countless patients.

I know it is a bit odd to write about psychological experiments involving dogs at the beginning of an E-Mail about wine but every time I think about today's wines, I begin to salivate.  Just to level set, these are very good wines but certainly not the best wines in our portfolio. They are almost certainly the most delicious wines in the portfolio. And what's great about them is that they are saddled up and ready to drink right now.  As we all know, wines from Montefalco are often beasts when young. After a good 5-10 years, they evolve into some of the most spicy, delicious wines on earth. But that wait can take a while. We previously sold the brilliant Tenuta col Falcos which will need some time - this is a way to get your Montafalco fix while you wait.

The first wine is the 2014 Montioni Sagrantino di Montefalco for $30.99 a bottle on a 4 pack. As noted, this is a wine that is just flat out unbelievably delicious. It needs about an hour to gather itself but then watch out.  The nose is just a gorgeous swirl of deep vivid cherry, blackberry and exotic spice. Deep, deep, deep deep fruit on the nose. Like someone dried peak of season fruit and then powdered them and added some allspice. The palate is a blockbuster. So, so intense. Blackberry and blackberry liquor combined with intense swirling spices. Wines with this level of fruit soak are often rather boring and monochromatic. Not this one. Not even close. There is a heavy spice element intermingled with the fruit. And the juiciness is absolutely off the charts. That is what brings all these components together and makes is so stunningly delicious.  Phenomenal acidic balance. The finish is long and so juicy it's almost impossible not to want another sip almost immediately. Pavlovoan reponse to the max. I should probably have a warning not to drink this on an empty stomach because you will absolutely guzzle it, to ill effect - have it with food. When I wrote that just thinking about it made me salivate, I was not kidding. This is an utterly crazy bottle of wine. And because I buy direct from the winery, the price for this quality is really nuts. You will want to drink this wine every night.

The Sagrantino is aged for 2 years in 225 liter barrels (mostly used) to smooth out the tannins. It is then aged for a further year in the bottle.  The wood is perfectly integrated (I hate obvious wood, as you know). It is, of course, 100% Sagrantino.

The second wine is the 2015 Montioni Montefalco Rosso for $18.99 a bottle on a 4 pack. My note on this wine reads "Juicy as Frank" except the last word was not Frank. For $19 you will not find a more delicious bottle of wine.  The nose is classic Sangiovese. Licorice, spice and big cherry fruit. The palate is the best sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet cherry licorice. You just want to aerate this in your mouth forever.  The cherry fruit is BIG. I mean really big. You know when you get a big bowl of perfectly ripe cherries and can't stop eating the things and you're just annoyed that they have pits because you have to eat them one at a time and spit the stupid pits out?  Well that's what this tastes like except you can drink this as fast as you like (and you will). As noted, the acidic balance here is perfect - just a seamless bond with the fruit to create that Fassy juiciness that I love. This is 65% Sangiovese, 20% Merlot and 15% Sagrantino. 


Montioni is run by the highly energetic Paolo Montioni who is also the winemaker.  He's very genial but a very focused individual who is trying to take Montioni to the top tier in the region.  The small, family winery has been in operation since 1972.  Paolo is the fourth generation in the family to work at the estate.

2014 Montioni Sagrantino di Montefalco - $32.99 ($123.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)

2015 Montioni Montefalco Rosso - $20.99 ($75.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)