![\"FalcoW3a\"](\"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/FalcoW3a.png\")
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The next edition of A Montefalco (Anteprima Montefalco) is next week (June 16-18) … on the eve of that event, I thought I’d look at some of my winery visits from last year. <\/p>\n
The highlight of A Montefalco, besides the day of tasting, are the days leading up to, and the days afterward. These are the days for visiting the wineries and getting to know the producers. One of the days is a prescribed list of wineries – the other days you have free rein to visit whomever you want; which is helpful, especially post-tasting, when you’ve made a discovery of an up-and-coming winery you want to learn more about. I have discovered many producers with great passions this way. <\/p>\n
This year, there were a few changes to the program, but all-in-all it was pretty much as described above. I found myself at 11 wineries. Some had large vertical tastings, others toured and tasted through their facilities, and some prepared a lunch with their tasting. Each was a unique experience; each showing their generosity and hospitality. <\/p>\n
Some even sat down with me to discuss Montefalco, Sagrantino and other subjects for the Two Guys Talking Wine podcast (listen here<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n I have highlighted six wineries this year … And all their wines: the good, the bad, the ugly. Three appear in this article, the rest will follow in the next. Let’s get tasting…<\/p>\n ALZATURA<\/strong><\/p>\n Let’s call this your father’s Sagrantino … The Sagrantinos feel old school, lots of wood that will never resolve into fruit. The whites and rossos save the day- with the rosso and spoletino being the standout wines.<\/p>\n Alzatura 2010 Montefalco Sagrantino Alzatura 2015 Montefalco Sagrantino<\/span> Alzatura 2017 Montefalco Sagrantino<\/span> Alzatura 2021 Montefalco Rosso<\/span> Alzatura 2023 Cortili<\/span> ___________________________<\/p>\n BOCALE<\/strong><\/p>\n This winery has been dialling back on its wood program from small barrels to big – increasing the juice to wood ratio and it shows: the wines are becoming more fruit-forward, bright and elegant. Rosso’s are consistently good and their spoletino is usually a favorite. Bocale 2009 Montefalco Sagrantino<\/span> Bocale 2014 Montefalco Sagrantino<\/span> Bocale 2019 Montefalco Sagrantino<\/span> Bocale 2023 Spoleto<\/span> ______________________________<\/p>\n CESARINI SARTORI<\/strong><\/p>\n Each year, I have a surprise find – this year it was Cesarini Sartori. It was my last winery visit, and it was done on a whim … and I had time to kill before leaving for Tuscany. <\/p>\n The two sisters, who took over from their father, were a delight and we tried everything. They were unabashedly proud of each and every wine, and there are some real gems here.<\/p>\n Cesarini Sartori 2003 Sagrantino di Montefalco<\/span> Cesarini Sartori 2016 Semele – Passito<\/span> Cesarini Sartori 2016 Villarode – Montefalco Sagrantino<\/span> Cesarini Sartori 2020 Benozo<\/span> (IGT) Cesarini Sartori 2020 Ripenre – Rosso Riserva<\/span> Cesarini Sartori 2021 La Randa<\/span> Cesarini Sartori 2022 Grechetto<\/span> Cesarini Sartori 2022 Olmobuco<\/span> Cesarini Sartori 2023 Peperosa<\/span> Cesarini Sartori (Signae) 2019 Merlo — see the video review<\/strong><\/a><\/span> ______________________________<\/p>\n To see my notes from A Montefalco tasting visit these links:<\/strong><\/p>\n Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG – Annata 2020<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The next edition of A Montefalco (Anteprima Montefalco) is next week (June 16-18) … on the eve of that event, I thought I’d look at some of my winery visits from last year. The highlight of A Montefalco, besides the day of tasting, are the days leading up to, and the days afterward. These […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7098","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\/7098","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=7098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7098\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Wineries appear in alphabetical order – not in order of visiting day; while the wines themselves are presented mainly in date order (oldest to youngest).<\/p>\n![\"FalcoW7a\"](\"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/FalcoW7a.png\")
<\/span>
(Grape: Sagrantino) – A lesson in wood, alcohol and maybe a little licorice.<\/p>\n
(Grape: Sagrantino) – There’s a lot of wood and tannins.<\/p>\n
(Grape: Sagrantino) – A little too harsh.<\/p>\n![\"FalcoW6a\"](\"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/FalcoW6a.png\")
Alzatura 2021 Montefalco Bianco<\/span>
(Grapes: White Blend) – It’s white wine – good and tasty white wine. It won’t blow you away, it does what you want a white wine to do: refreshing and easy-drinking; but it’s basic white wine. (***+)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Grapes: Red Blend) – Soft and gentle red, with good fruit and flavours devoted to black cherry, spice and a hint of vanilla. (*** ½+)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Grape: Trebbiano Spoletino) – Fresh, bright, easy-drinking – honey, lemon curd, almost feels like there are tannins on the finish – and maybe some citrus pith. (*** ½)<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"FalcoW5a\"](\"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/FalcoW5a.png\")
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(Grape: Sagrantino) – Barrique focused – musty, oaky, fruitless. <\/p>\n
(Grape: Sagrantino) – Move towards bigger barrels is afoot – fruit is still lively, though the oak still has taken purchase within the wine. Drink now. (*** ½+)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Grape: Sagrantino) – Fruit is forefront, oak still around, and tannins quite present; but there’s a juiciness to this wine that adds pleasure to its enjoyment. (****)<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"FalcoW1a\"](\"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/FalcoW1a.png\")
Bocale 2021 Montefalco Rosso<\/span>
(Grapes: Sangiovese 70 \/ Colorino 5 \/ 10 Merlot \/ 15 Sagrantino) – Three harvests to make this wine: Colorino and Merlot in September – Sangiovese in late Sept – and Sagrantino at the end of October. Red-berry fruit, subtle oak notes, and a quick finish. Very drinkable. (*** ½+)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Grape: Trebbiano Spoletino) – All stainless ageing. Light, fresh with green melon, lemon curd and a subtle saltiness. This is not Bocale’s best effort, but it’s solidly good. (*** ½)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Grape: Sagrantino) – Older notes, due to its age (of course): coffee, butterscotch (a little odd), good tannin structure, with even some licorice poking through.
Cesarini Sartori 2013 Amedeo<\/span>
(Grape: Sagrantino) – Special Selection – 1 barrel, 2 years old (20HL) – 9 yrs in bottle. They use looser bunches of grapes. The wine still has plenty of fruit, along the lines of smoked cherry, mocha, chocolate, spice and acidity – good finish. There was a lot to like here. (**** ½)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Grape: Sagrantino) – Dry, black cherry – backed by some pretty floral note. (****)<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"FalcoW10a\"](\"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/FalcoW10a.png\")
(Grape: Sagrantino) – Silky, smooth, cassis, black cherry, cranberry cocktail, nice complexity with spices and oak. (****+)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Grape: Sagrantino) – Sweet fruited, and easy drinking with black cherry and vanilla notes. (*** ½+)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Grapes: Sangiovese \/ Merlot \/ Cabernet Sauvignon \/ Sagrantino) – Largely on the elegant side and yet shows signs of ruggedness – the red fruit comes thru with some good tannin that have a tendency to bite back. (****)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Grapes: Grechetto 90 \/ Sauvignon Blanc 10) – Fermentation in new American oak … there’s a weight to the wine which over-shadows the fruit a bit, though there are signs of bitter melon – it’s more a food friendly white. (*** ½)<\/strong>
![\"FalcoW11a\"](\"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/FalcoW11a.png\")
Cesarini Sartori 2021 Terrebianche – Montefalco Rosso <\/span>
(Grapes: Sangiovese \/ Merlot \/ Cabernet Sauvignon \/ Sagrantino) – Smooth, lush, lots of dark fruit, spice, and great acidity. (****)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Grapes: Grechetto 90 \/ Sauvignon Blanc 10) – All stainless … leaving this wine fresh with notes of citrus and apple. (*** ½)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Grapes: Trebbiano Spoletino 95 \/ Malvasia 5) – Three months in American oak which helps derive sweetness. This wines fights with itself – sweet notes upfront with a dry finish – fun little wine – lots of fruit, but that finish is dry as a bone. (****)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Grape: Sagrantino) – Lovely strawberry and cherry – those tannins from the grape come thru, but do not get in the way: grilled meat would be a perfect pairing. (*** ½+)<\/strong><\/p>\n
(Grape: Merlot) – Lush, plush, sexy and beautiful – a real pleaser – lovely acidity, blueberry, black cherry, cran-cherry, smoke … spends 1-year in French barrique … has lots of character. A special wine that shows a passion for the grape. (**** ½)<\/strong><\/p>\n
Montefalco Sagrantino Vintage Wines<\/a>
Sagrantino: Tasting on Tannin Strength and Positioning<\/a>
Montefalco Rosso and Riserva Report<\/a>
Montefalco White Wines Report<\/a><\/p>\n