Not a typical topic of comparison – but when you have, what many consider, the most tannic grape; it’s good to see where you sit with other regions and how they are perceived and tasted.<\/p>\n
About & Speculation:<\/strong> Montefalco got its DOCG designation in 1999 – for the wines made with 100% Sagrantino. Vineyards of the area lie primarily between 200 and 450 m above sea level. Sagrantino is also a late-ripener (late-October) – it needs a long growing season. The four designated growing areas are: Bevagna, Gualdo Cattaneo, Giano Dell’Umbria and Castle Ritaldi; and while I mentioned them here – they do not, as of writing, appear on bottle labels … If I were a betting man, my speculation would be the following: we just might be looking at the future potential “cru” system of Montefalco, or at least the sub-appellations. Many other regions around Italy are already doing it or are in the progress of doing it; so why not Montefalco? Time will tell.<\/p>\n 10 wines were poured blind – the questions: where do the tannins attack? And when to drink them? Let’s taste …<\/p>\n Bocale 2019 Montefalco Sagrantino<\/em><\/span> (Umbria)<\/em> E. Guigal 2018 Chateau D’Ampuis<\/em><\/span> (France)<\/em> Franchetti 2021 Passopisciaro<\/em><\/span> (Sicily) <\/em> Antonelli 2018 Montefalco Sagrantino<\/em><\/span> (Umbria)<\/em> Messorio 2019 Le Macchiole<\/em><\/span> (Tuscany)<\/em> Chateau Montrose 2021 Grand Cru Classe<\/em><\/span> (France) <\/strong> Tenute Lunelli 2016 Carapace Lunga Attesa<\/em><\/span> (Umbria)<\/em> Ridge Vineyards 2019 Lytton Estate – Petite Sirah<\/em><\/span> (California)<\/em> Colpetrone 2015 Memoira – Montefalco Sagrantino<\/em><\/span> (Umbria) <\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (June 2024) … Nothing beats a comparative tasting. And while most regions do it to see if their wines can compete on an international level. Montefalco knows they have world-class wine, so that is not their metric for comparison. Today, the question is about tannin – their strength and position in the mouth. Where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-the-road-with-the-grape-guy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6885\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Montefalco](\"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Montefalco_Tannins_C.png\")
The Wines Tasted … <\/strong>
Scacciadiavoli 2019 Montefalco Sagrantino<\/em><\/span> (Umbria)<\/em>
A 20 day maceration … Tannins attack the top of the palate, but are well-integrated. Drink now<\/strong><\/p>\n
A 40 days maceration … Tannins seem to be all over the mouth, but come across as lush, fine and chalky. Drink or Hold<\/strong> (3-7 yrs)<\/p>\n
A 20 day maceration (Syrah) … Tannins are juicy and velvety, attacks the middle of the tongue. Wine comes across both dense and youthful. Hold<\/strong><\/p>\n
A 20 day maceration (Cesanese) … Tannins are subtle, smooth, silky and savoury – they attach to the lips, which is an interesting place to find tannins. Drink now<\/strong><\/p>\n
A 20 day maceration … Tannins sit middle of the tongue. Wine has medium acidity, but the high alcohol content is perceived, bringing an unbalanced nature to the wine. Reserve Judgement<\/strong><\/p>\n
A 20 day maceration (Merlot) … Tannins grab at the tongue, but yet seem creamy, smooth and thick. Hold<\/strong><\/p>\n
A 20 day maceration (Blend) … Tannins are green and woody. As my January trip to Bordeaux proved, 2021 was not a great year for Bordeaux wines. Drink now<\/strong><\/p>\n
A 40 days maceration … Tannins attack a multitude of places: lips, teeth, tongue, and although the wine is dry there is an element of sweet fruit. This one is good for short term aging. Drink or Hold<\/strong><\/p>\n
A 20 day maceration (Petit Sirah) … Tannins in this wine are fine, firm, juicy and well-integrate; there is plenty of subtlety on the tongue. Drink or Hold<\/strong><\/p>\n
A 15 day maceration … Tannins are refined and soft with some minerality mid-palate and well-integrated on the finish – the tongue gets the majority of the tannin-effect. Drink or Hold<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Montefalco](\"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Montefalco_Tannins_B.png\")
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