About this WINE
Milziade Antano, Umbria
The Milziade Antano family of Fattoria Colleallodole have been associated with the Umbrian story of Montefalco and its Sagrantino grapes since the beginning. Initially as mezzadri (share-croppers), then in 1969 becoming land owners of 30 ha of prime, stony clay based land for vines and livestock on the road between Bevagna and Montefalco at 265 msl.
1975 saw the first vinification of the family’s wines, while it was not until the 1980s, that son Francesco (pictured right with his mother and his son Giordano) began to age and bottle the wines under their own label. Now the estate measures 40ha, of which 15 is planted with vines.
The wines are traditionally made, harvested at modest yields of c. 40 hl/ha, fermented and MLF in stainless-steel, aged for up to 36 months in large slavonian oak botte plus 12 months bottle ageing.
The Montefalco Rosso is an early drinking style while the ‘vigna/cru’ Colleallodole Sagrantino di Montefalco, so named in homage to the heights that the local skylark climbs, is born of the estate’s finest, oldest vines, and produced in tiny quantities (1500 bottles).
Sagrantino
Of the many native red grape wines recently revived in Italy, Sagrantino, the main grape component in Sagrantino di Montefalco - Umbria's flagship wine appellation - is one of the most distinctive. With its impressive complexity and longevity, it has the qualities to become the region's most famous wine, despite the fact that this low-yielding Sagrantino grape makes up a mere 6% of Umbria's total wine production.
Sagrantino of Montefalco has one of the lowest maximum yields at 48 hl/ha, and must be aged for 30 months pre-release, of which 12 months must be in wood - increasingly French barriques. It is garnet-red with muscular tannins and full body, a subtle scent of violet petals, an aroma and bouquet reminiscent of blackberries. Montefalco Rosso is an earlier drinking blend of Sangiovese (60-70%), Sagrantino (10-15%), Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot (15-30%).
The Sagrantino grape reaches its apogee as a passito style wine, produced from partially dried grapes: full-bodied, mellow, spicy, with robust alcoholic strength of over 14 %, and a garnet red colour. The trend towards dry/Secco wines has only outstripped the sweet over the past 15 - 20 years.
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Description
Mirroring the sunny, yet fresh character of the 2009 vintage, Francesco's southern Rhone-esque Sagrantino is still composed, with brambly-sweet, red tinted, earthy fruit on the nose.
The palate has at its core a super suave kernel of strawberry, 'frutta di bosco' (forest fruit), tinged with baked wild herbs, and an all-enveloping mouthfeel. Gently vinified and aged in botte grande, this 100% Sagrantino speaks of Bevagna's deep, calcareous clay soils and of a respect for tradition and for 'territorio'.
David Berry Green
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